


Intruder Amongst The Living

by pillzkill



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Anal Sex, Ghost!Frank, M/M, Oral Sex, idk what else man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-12
Updated: 2020-06-12
Packaged: 2021-03-04 05:35:05
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,266
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24678541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pillzkill/pseuds/pillzkill
Summary: Gerard makes a new friend who keeps getting into his apartment somehow, and something is a little off about him.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 8
Kudos: 70





	Intruder Amongst The Living

**Author's Note:**

> hi friends, now this is a weird one, just hang with it. i don't know if i got out the gist of it but hopefully you kinda understand, spooky, ghosty but kinda not? lmao anyways, i will probably come back to add things and excuse any typos and stuff i missed i will get to it! xx

Gerard had lived in his old apartment for far too long, well okay like a year and a half but it felt like at least three. Things were falling apart, nothing ever got fixed, it was all just decaying in front of everyone's eyes. Not to mention the elevator had been broken the entire time he'd lived there. He never liked bothering anyone about it but hey, it would've been nice if things actually worked.

There had been a place Mikey told him about, it seemed like it might be the same kind of situation though. Maybe a little broken down, falling apart. He suspected the pictures might be fake or something because everything looked way too nice. There were not too helpful reviews on the place, he finally decided to go for it. Fuck it, there's really nothing else for him to lose.

So now he finds himself trying to find his new apartment, the building is very tall and the hallways are almost winding. He had been here once before to look around but he remembers being concerned he'd forget completely where it would be. There seems to be a million floors and too many doors, he was told what floor he'd be on and what number but somehow there's no clear sign of what is what. His arms are hurting from carrying a box and Mikey's huffing in annoyance isn't helping anyone either.

He was right, he is completely lost again. Mikey's annoying huffs turn into small comments to himself about his arms hurting and "We've already been here," this and that. Gerard pretends to not hear him, it won't help them to fight. 

"Mikey, I told you to come with me the first time. I told you this place was weird!" Gerard turns around to face his brother. His lips are in a thin line, he's very clearly bored and would much rather be with that Pete character he's always talking about.

"Look let me see the key again," Mikey puts his hand out for Gerard to give him the key to the apartment, it had a little card attached to it with the number and floor. He looks at it and immediately huffs again, "Gerard this was like a floor down!"

Gerard feels a little embarrassed, he hasn't been doing too well with keeping things organized. He's been a mess really, he's had too much to worry about with too little sleep. He hasn't wanted anyone to worry so he hasn't really said anything about it to anyone. With his art he's been doing pretty good but it's been very draining. He's gotten much farther than he'd though he'd go in life, he used to have a much worse drinking problem. He used to be lost, he doesn't like thinking about that time but he can at least control himself now. He doesn't blackout and forget days upon days but he does know he needs to stay away from drinking completely.

They go back down and things become more familiar to him again. The building has a kind of art deco kind of feel to it, each floor Is decorated similarly but each a different color. The floor he's going to be living on is red, it's almost too bright but he really likes it. There's the same decorations as on the others and the same kind of vibe. All of the doors are the same solid color with the small peepholes centering it.

Mikey opens the door and they see the now empty apartment, it did come with a few pieces of furniture which Gerard didn't mind at all. Even if they were kind of ugly, the more money he can save the better. There's a big window in what is the living area and he really likes that as well, he likes looking outside in the morning or late at night. It leads into the kitchen area right by it, it's not huge and it's not tiny. It's just right.

The other apartment space he lived in he had started to outgrow, it became smaller and smaller the longer he stayed there. He's sure that will probably happen in time too, to this place. Until then he's pretty happy with it. 

His room and bedroom are down a small hall by the living area, its quite spacious yet again. The bathroom is in the same hallway which is right by a smaller room he didn't know about until he saw it in person. It's just an added bonus, he expected to just use the entire place as something for his art but he doesn't really mind. But the extra room has just enough space for him, its comfortable.

The walls are an off white color, there's some trim that's painted black while other parts are kind of neglected and still the off white color. Gerard really likes the vibe it gives, still has a little art deco feel but not really, it was actually much more than he expected it to be. He thought it'd be kind of trashed and small but this place looks like a million dollar house compared to his old apartment. It's a little more but he doesn't have issues with being able to pay rent.

That's another thing, as he got clean and started focusing more on what he wants to do for a living, he started becoming a little more financially free. Some of the art he does isn't the most exciting being for marketing and shit he's not interesting in in general but he at least is able to be somewhat financially stable. Before he didn't really have much motivation it was always fuck this and fuck that, life is a bag of shit and yada yada yada. It's not like life is all rainbows an sunshine all the time but it's like now at least his brain isn't a trash pile with a millions worms in it.

Mikey helps him go back and forth with getting boxes and moving stuff back and forth, some people in the hallway he assumes are his new neighbors also offer to help. Moving his bed in is not the easiest thing, there's so many parts and the heaviest being the headboard and footboard. He forgets about his TV and all of his little knickknacks as well and it starts adding up more and more. He has boxes upon boxes of art stuff, DVDs, books, little figures. He gets kind of an idea that he needs more clothes since he has not nearly enough bags filled with them.

It takes what feels like forever until he gets everything finally together, the day is already gone. There's a few other things he didn't have to worry about, a couch, a TV stand, things like that. He's too tired to think about going out to buy food right now, he asks Mikey to order pizza.

"I like this place," Mikey says as he picks up a slice of pizza from the box.

"I do too," Gerard chews slowly and stares out the giant window, the sun is setting now. The colors are flowing into a pretty cotton candy swirl. He feels good right now, it was a good day.

"You're going to need some giant shades for that," he points at the window, also watching the sky.

"I don't know, maybe I'll just keep it open like that," Gerard mumbles and glances at this brother.

"You're going to let people watch you? Sick!"

"It doesn't matter! I asked and they said no one can really see me, it doesn't matter," he waves a hand and puts his half eaten slice of pizza back in the box. The window isn't super big, it's not like an entire wall, there's no other tall buildings around either so it's not like anyone will be watching. Not like there will be anything to watch anyway. He pretty much keeps to himself in every single way possible, he likes being alone mostly. Sometimes not so much but he's learned to be more okay with it than before.

Gerard is laying in his bed that night and feels pretty restless, he feels kind of paranoid. There's creaking and weird tapping, he knows it's all apart of moving. Like when you're a kid and moved somewhere, you think there's some kind of monster hanging around and watching you the first few nights you're there. You just have to get used to being in a new place is all. There's new sounds and new things he has to get used to, Mikey is in the living room sleeping on the couch. He feels safe at least in that sense. He tries closing his eyes and becomes taken over by a dreamless sleep.

~

When he wakes up Mikey is gone, he left a little note on the coffee table in from of the couch and TV.

 _'Went to buy you actual food,'_ followed by a little scribble which looks like his name or something. A very crooked small, "Mikey."

Gerard wallows around for a little bit, he has no ides what time it is. He doesn't remember where he put his phone either, he's just a bit lost right now. By the way the sky looks he can guess that it's maybe in the late afternoon 2 o'clock or so. He starts trying to unpack everything, he doesn't have enough hangers for his clothes so he decides to just shove the bags in to the closet.

Who's going to care? No one.

He moves a lot of his art stuff into the smaller room which makes him feel a bit more settled in, he'll deal with that when he has more art shit to do. For a while he sorts out putting his DVDs In the TV stand, there's a little opening you can store stuff in there. He starts trying to put them in alphabetically but quickly decides it's a stupid idea and starts quickly shoving them in next to each other.

The boxes filled with his comic books is another story he doesn't want to read right now, he doesn't see any harm in just shoving them somewhere else like he did with his bags of clothes. He's doesn't really care for it right now, it's not going to affect anyone else so it doesn't matter to him.

"Sure has been gone for a while," he mumbles to himself as he looks at one of the clay models he made of one of his characters he created. It's a little vampire kind of thing, he spent way too much time on it. He's still proud of it anyway.

He really could use a cup of coffee, he's happy that's the one thing he made sure he brought. He goes to the kitchen and finds the little box he put his the cute little coffee maker his mom gave him as a moving gift from his last apartment. He smiles to himself as he finds it, it's little and blue, it's a little beat up but it gives it character.

He stares at the coffee slowly dripping into the pot for a while until there's a bang on his door, he stands and waits until there's a few more bangs. He goes to open the door and see's Mikey holding a bunch of bags, he assumes _all_ of the bags.

"Took you long enough," he huffs and shoves some of the bags onto Gerard.

"I would've helped you!," Gerard starts quickly taking them to the kitchen.

"Didn't feel like making multiple trips…" Mikey huffs out and begins dropping more bags onto the floor. 

"You're really winded from that?" Gerard chuckles and starts putting the food away.

"You're not going to thank me? Geez some brother you are," He drops the rest of them on the counter and sits down on the couch.

"Thanks Mikes," he says and looks back at his brother. He doesn't say anything but wave a hand and start fumbling with the TV remote. It takes him a few clicks to realize it's not plugged in yet, he starts fidgeting with the plug. Then he gets up and tries to find an extension chord.

When he's finished putting everything up he sips his coffee and watches his brother, he finally turns the TV on and tries plugging it into the cable. After a while of flipping Mikey puts it on some black and white horror movie Gerard doesn't recognize. It's filled with noise crackles and plenty of weird low budget monsters, he continues sorting all of his stuff out while it plays.

A few days go by and it's just like that, Mikey keeps him company and helps him sort out his shit. They drink coffee and make each other lunch, it has such a nice natural flow to it. It makes him miss living with his younger brother. At the same time he definitely doesn't miss his mess, he's a different kind of messy. A more _putrid_ kind of messy. Gerard prides himself in how much his habits have changed. He got his own place he really had to learn to not leave it a disgusting mess. He used to leave his basement totally trashed, he had bottles and dirty clothes laying everywhere. He knows it has to do with where his mind was, he's really improved a lot since then. He's proud of himself.

Eventually Mikey isn't around so much and that's totally okay. He's got like his own life and stuff and that's totally cool. Nearly two months go by and Gerard feels himself grow more and more into living there, he even meets the neighbors over that time. He isn't on full conversation level with any of them yet but he's happy he's made himself known instead of being seen as the weird hermit that never leaves.

Something that he doesn't quite settle into is the noises, the small creeks, the feeling like he's being watched. He knows partly that it's just him being lonely probably. During the day he's a bit too occupied to notice anything or to feel anything but deep concentration on whatever he's doing. Maybe it's him being holed up to much, he doesn't really know. He does feel like he should get out a little and meet someone new but at the same time he feels fine just focusing on himself.

There is a day where Gerard notices something of his is missing, its not a big deal it's just a paintbrush. It may be one of his favorites but he doesn't really think anything of it. He thinks he probably misplaced it somewhere since he's a little clumsy. But then it happens more and more, the items increasing and it starts to annoy him a bit. Surely he isn't _that,_ forgetful.

It reaches a ridiculous point when one of his favorite hoodie goes completely missing. He searches all over for it and there's absolutely no sign of it. He doesn't understand how any of the stuff can just get up and walk away. He wants to tell Mikey but he's afraid it's only going to worry him, that he's in a bad spot again. That's absolutely not the message he want to send. He's surely not going crazy, he hasn't been drinking or delving into bad habits again. Frankly he's been pretty happy lately, yeah he gets moody and sad sometimes but he's been trying to keep himself away from spiraling.

Gerard is running low on groceries one day and he decides to go out. He hasn’t been out in a week or so but it feels like it's been a trillion years. He throws on an old faded Iron Maiden shirt and a pair of jeans that’s not dirty. He notices how roomy they've gotten, he realizes he's lost a bit of weight. He didn't really notice or care as he's been busy trying to keep his mind going. He didn't understand how much he had lost until he started wearing some of his older clothes.

He doesn't bother brushing his hair and just runs his hands through it, it bunches up a bit. It's not super long but it's grown out. The way it looks reminds him of Robert Smith's hair but much shorter. He doesn't take a lot of time looking at himself, he looks a little sickly. The weight in his face also dropped a bit, he doesn't fully understand this new guy but he thinks he might be pretty cool. Again, he doesn't really find himself caring too much.

~

Gerard returns to his apartment with his hands filled with bags, he immediately drops all of them when he see's someone standing in his living room looking at a painting on his easel. His first thought is to scream but he decides it's best not, he has no idea what this guy could be up to. From where he's at this person looks just like a shadow. He inspects the guy from behind, he has a few tattoos on the back of his arms and one on his neck. He's kind of short, only by a few inches from himself. His hair is dark and short, he's wearing a white t-shirt and slightly faded black jeans.

"C-can I help you?" Gerard stutters out nervously, he moves closer to the guy as slowly as possible. Trying not to move too suddenly.

"Cool painting," the guy says calmly, he turns around and looks at Gerard. He looks young, like super young. He has a few more tattoos on the front of his arms, the guy is smiling at him now. He sees two small glimmers from his lip ring and nose ring. Who is this guy?

"What are you doing here?" Gerard still feels pretty scared looking at this guy, who is smiling at him. It's a thin lipped kind smile, would actually be pretty cute if he hadn't fucking broke into his apartment.

"Just hanging out," he shrugs and starts looking at the painting again. He see's the guys right arm move a little, he's probably touching the canvas, He doesn't really care about that though, it's dry anyway. Gerard doesn't know the direction it's going in but so far it has smudges or blue and red splattered around like blood.

"Do you always break into people's apartments like this?" He moves a bit closer to him to watch him stare at the painting.

"Only if they leave the door unlocked," he shrugs again and turns around to smirk at Gerard.

"But I didn't- I locked it," he sputters out, there's no fucking way he left his door unlocked. Maybe when he used to drink he'd leave his door open or unlocked or whatever and it would invite some unsavory characters in but that's _not_ what happened now.

"it's cool dude, we all make mistakes. I'm Frank by the way," he puts his hand out for him to shake. Gerard looks down and notice the tattoos on his fingers, he can't really read what they say. They're in a black outline with an ombré of orange at the bottom of each. Gerard likes tattoos for the most part, he just would never get one himself. Needles to him are possibly one of the worst things to exist, they disgust him and make him want to die.

_'Die? Are they that bad?......" he thinks to himself briefly, 'No yeah, they are.'_

"I'm Gerard. It still doesn't justify you coming into my apartment," he takes his hand hesitantly and shakes it.

Frank then moves from the painting and onto a sketchbook Gerard has left open on the coffee table. There's a few little mummies and vampires on one page, the other one has little ghosts with the sheets on, some have little neon glows around them. Small bats peppered onto each page and coming out of one of the bottom corners like a little explosion.

"Woah, these are cool," Frank looks at them almost in awe, his mouth open a little bit in a surprised pout and his eyes filled with wonder. Gerard is so freaked out by this guy he almost has no idea how to even react.

"Thanks," he says it a bit slowly as he watches Frank stare at the little monsters.

"Do you do this for a living? Like art?" Frank looks at him again, he see's something in his eyes that's a bit too excited. How do you break into a strangers apartment and just act totally normal about it? He knew something was definitely weird about this place. It took him approximately two months for him to discover that.

"Yeah sort of, well….. yeah I do actually," Gerard watches as Frank touches one of the mummies, the particular one he touches only has one big neon yellow eye.

"That's so fucking cool," he says again in awe.

"Do you live on this floor?" Gerard continuous to just watch the kid stare at doodles in his book.

"Something like that," he waves a hand and starts flipping through the sketchbook. Gerard quickly takes it away from him, snatching it from his hands.

"Sorry just, it's like my journal," Gerard smiles shyly and keeps it close to his chest. He doesn't have anything in there that needs to be hidden but he's always sure he's going to be judged if he showed anyone that wasn't Mikey or his mom.

"That's cool," Frank stands there for a moment and just stares at him, truthfully he think's this guy is kind of pretty but he's also terrified of how he got into his apartment.

"Anyway," he says it a little slowly still looking at Gerard, "I'll see you around."

As Frank heads towards his front door he moves around all of the scattered items of food. He hears him laugh a little to himself before he finally reaches the door and leaves. Should he tell someone? Should he tell Mikey? He loses his track of thought when he feels his stomach gurgle and glances back at the groceries scattered on the floor.

Gerard doesn't think much of Frank again, he's not worried about it either. The guy seemed pretty harmless. He has other issues to worry about currently, mainly being how his shit is continuing to go missing. A ton of other small items begins showing up but others stay missing. His favorite pens and brushes never show up again, the missing hoodie never makes an appearance again. He even notices the little vampire figure he made has gone missing. It had been on the stand next to the TV, he wonders if maybe Frank could've stolen it since he was standing right next to it.

He doesn't really doubt it.

~

There's a day he somehow wakes up in the morning, he finds himself having absolutely nothing to do in this time. He drinks about a million cups of coffee and smokes his entire pack of cigarettes. He ponders on going out to buy more and maybe stop by this one comic book shop he hasn't been to in a while. He let's himself have that and decides to leave. He makes sure he locks his door, in fact he unlocks and locks it again at least four times. He counted. 

When he gets back he doesn’t really think much he unlocks the door normally. He hears the click as his key moves and opens it. He steps in and feels like everything is fine, nothing to worry about. No small intruders who only broke in to admire his art.

Is what he thought at first.

He turned to his kitchen and saw his fridge wide open and Frank standing there looking into it. He nearly shits his pants, he feels kind of mad. He doesn't really let it overshadow the fact he is completely amazed at how this little fucker got in _yet again_.

"You got nothing good in there," he says as he closes the door to the refrigerator. Smiling at Gerard he starts messing with the only apple that was on the counter sitting around loosely. It’s probably really bruised and starting to rot, he didn't really pay attention or care about it.

"How'd you get in again? You seriously have to stop," Gerard places the bag in his hand on the counter. He watches as Frank plays with the apple and tosses it from each of his hands. He doesn't say anything but shrug and put the apple back down. He opens the bag and see's the stack of comic books Gerard just came back from buying. 

"Can I look at these?" He doesn't even let Gerard reply before he's taking the bag to the couch and looking through them. Gerard stands frozen in place for a while, this can't be happening again. Could it?

Turning to the couch he decides to see what Frank will do next. He's a bit anxious as he sits on the other side of the couch besides him. His expression is reminiscent from before, complete awe. He looks like a kid in a candy store, he's totally transfixed on the books.

"I haven't read any comics in a while," Frank says as he's staring at an ad for some clothing brand that revolves around horror and makes little novelties around them.

"I have a lot of them, too fucking many. You could borrow some if you'd like, chances are you'd come back here anyway," Gerard shrugs, he knows it's bound to happen again. So far he would like to think that he's pretty harmless but you never know really. People can be really sketchy. They'll smile and joke with you right before stabbing you in the back sometimes.

Frank nods, "That'd be cool, thank you." He gives him that small grin again, it's pretty cute. Actually, Gerard thinks he's _really_ cute in general. He just wishes they could quit meeting like this. They might've even become friends, he really could use some new friends right now.

After Frank gets done looking through the new stack of comics, Gerard gives him another. Frank looks really excited and jumps a little. After that just like before, Frank quickly leaves. He says a very quick, "See ya!" and leaves.

Gerard finds himself yet again frozen where he's standing and trying to process the entire experience he just had.

Who is this guy?

~

Mikey is over one day when Gerard decides to step out and get them some food. It had been another few weeks since he had seen Frank, he still didn't know which apartment was his. He was also wondering about his comic books, he didn't really care if he ever got them back. They weren't worth anything and he likes the idea of someone else enjoying them more.

He's sitting on the couch trying to watch _Silence of The Lambs_ when he hears the door start to unlock, at first he thinks it's just probably Gerard. When the door opens it's not Gerard, but some kid. He doesn't recognize this guy at all and he feels kind of mad Gerard didn't tell him he was seeing someone.

"Are those Gerard's?" Mikey asks coolly as he pushes up his glasses from the end of his nose.

"Yeah, just wanted to drop them off," the guy stammers. He move slowly toward the couch and puts them down on the coffee table, he watches the guy and his vibe instantly shifts. He cracks a small smile and asks, "So are you friends with him or something?"

"He didn't tell you? That fucker," he says bitterly. Gerard _really_ didn't bother to tell this guy about him, about his best friend, his fucking brother. They share almost everything with each other, he really needs to know why he never told him about this guy.

How _dare_ he?

"I'm his brother, Mikey." Frank nods and introduces himself, he comments on _Silence of The Lambs_ and that completely breaks any tension between the both of them.

Gerard comes back and it's like he can never get a fuckin break. Frank and Mikey are sitting and laughing with each other. This isn't something he thought would happen, he didn't think Frank would have the nerve to do it again. Especially if there was someone in the apartment, he thought it would scare him off maybe but no, not a chance.

"Frank? What are you doing here?" Gerard doesn't know how to act, he's shocked and he's also worried about what Mikey thinks. He's also very worried Mikey was telling him some embarrassing shit about him.

"How could you not tell me you were seeing someone? I thought we were suppose-" Gerard tries to interrupt but ends up with Mikey talking over him. That goes on for a while until Gerard decides to completely give up and accept the idea he's proposing. That, yeah he's "seeing" someone (no one) and didn't tell him, oh boy that's _exactly_ what happened. You got him, he's guilty.

He's very surprised of how well Mikey and Frank get along, they instantly click. He doesn't want to kill it by saying he knows nothing about this little intruder. He lets it be and tries not to be on edge so much. Frank isn't threatening or _anything_ , he's definitely not _scary._ Then again no one is until they have a box cutter to your throat. Does Frank have a box cutter? Is he going to try to stab him? He really needs to learn more about this guy and if he likes to stab people.

Mikey leaves an hour later to meet up with that Pete fellow, he should be insulted he doesn't know anything about _him_ either. He doesn't want to push it too much though, he already got himself into a big misunderstanding he never got to explain. He still doesn't know how he will anyway.

"Did you tell him we were together or something?" Gerard is smoking now, he's sitting on the couch next to Frank and staring at the TV. He feels a lot more relaxed now, especially that now Mikey is gone and it doesn't feel like there's anything to try to hide.

"Nah, he came up with that himself," Frank shrugs and pulls the cigarette from between Gerard's fingers quickly. He inhales slowly and makes a small throaty noise. Gerard doesn't even react fast enough to stop him from taking it, he just watches.

"It's been such a long time since I've had a smoke," he places it back in between Gerard's fingers, "Thank you." Frank smiles at him and looks back at the TV, there's nothing on but reruns and those stupid shopping programs. He's trying to avoid the rush of feelings he just got from that, he really needs to get out more. That shouldn't have had the affect on him it did.

"Are you like Houdini or something?" Gerard taps the ash on the small glassy heart ashtray on the coffee table, yet another gift from his mother.

"You could say that yeah," Frank says nonchalantly and reaches for the cigarette again, Gerard just lets him take it.

"You like breaking into apartments? Like breaking locks and shit? Does it give you what…. Like a thrill or something?" he watches as Frank places the smoke between his lips, he finds himself enjoying the sight a little too much. He knows Frank definitely see's him watching and tries to play it off by quickly looking away.

Frank hums as he blows the smoke out into a little cloud, "Kind of, not really though."

They stop talking about it at that point, Gerard asks him about the comics and how he liked them. Frank's sense of awe comes back again, he's super excited to talk about these little details and little story lines. He then asks if he can see more of his art, Gerard feels a little bashful about it. Yeah, people like his art and it's super nice but Frank _really_ likes his art, almost too much.

It makes his heart feel weird and warm, he is starting to enjoy it a little more than he should. He lets him look through a fully finished sketchbook from a while ago, his drinking days. He hasn't changed any of the styles but some of the sketches are very morbid and filled with guts and blood. There's definitely a lot of very graphic corpses and dead things, kind of fucked up stiff. Frank thinks it's fucking amazing nonetheless.

There's a point where it's nothing but zombies, he particularly likes one sketch of a sunset over a cemetery. There's hands coming out of the ground, some skeletons walking around, the orange and yellow of the sunset mixed in with blood splatters. Frank is really taken back by it, he stares at it and touches it for a while.

"You really like that one?" he asks as he's lighting up another cigarette.

"It reminds me of like _Dawn of The Dead_ or something," Frank looks up at Gerard, his smile is contagious really. Gerard finds himself smiling back at him, this strange guy.

"Here, look," he takes the book from his hands and rips out the thick page for Frank, "You can have it."

"This is so cool, thanks," he takes it from his hands and stares down at it, smiling still. He finds his reactions adorable, he's kind of like a lost puppy. He doesn't know how late it is but he feels exhausted, he tells Frank he should be going to bed soon. Frank takes the cigarette from his mouth yet again and agrees with him.

Just before he leaves Gerard's says, "Maybe I can come to your place one day?"

"Yeah, maybe."

~

From there on he doesn't see Frank for quite some time, it makes him pretty sad actually. Since the last time Frank started to really grow on him. He found himself thinking about him quite a lot. Specifically how he kept stealing his cigarettes and how he slip them between his lips. He doesn't try to think about that too much though. He's just some guy who likes breaking into his apartment.

He wonders if any of the other people on his floor have met him before, or if they know where his apartment is. After a while of contemplating he decides to go out and ask. First he goes to his closest neighbor Charlie, h has no idea who he's talking about. The other few people he's gotten to know don't know either, he takes it as everyone here truly does stay to themselves.

There's a woman at the end of the hall he asks and she has the strangest response, as soon as she opens the door he gets a strong scent of incense. He doesn't recognize it but it is lovely. She smiles at him politely as he hesitantly asks her if she knows of anyone named Frank on this floor or the building in general. He tells her he see's him a lot but doesn't know where he lives.

Her smile falters and she tells him some pretty spooky stuff, Gerard doesn't understand it. She says something about "protection" and "evil" he doesn't understand anything from it. She slams the door right in his face before he gets to say anything else. He knows people are superstitious but geez what could that have been possibly been about?

He doesn't take it personally because maybe Frank broke into her place and stole something from her too? He doesn't think about her too much after that.

Some days later he's informed they're going to be doing inspections on each of their apartments. He takes this as a chance to ask about Frank. See what's going on with him, see if they can actually formally hang out sometime without him scaring the shit out of Gerard.

He spends that day and the day before to make his apartment as clean as possible. He didn't realize how a small tornado seemed to make it's way through his apartment. He thought he had done a pretty good job at keeping it tidy. Guess he was wrong.

There's a knock on the door and he doesn't even check the peephole to see who it could be, he knows it’s the management. As he opens the door he see's two men both similarly dressed, they both look around middle aged with dark hair. One of them he notices is wearing a gold watch and holding a clipboard. The one with the watch is much shorter than the other. He notices the taller one is holding a bag, he assumes there's tools inside of it.

They walk into his apartment and ask how it's been so far, how his time here has been and if he's having any issues with anything. They both kind of ignore him and walk around his place, they poke and prod at absolutely everything it seems.

The taller one with the bag asks him yet again if he's having any issues, Gerard tells them about the leak in his kitchen he nearly forgot about. They go from his bathroom to the kitchen and start inspecting. He stands around and watches until finally decides to ask, "Do you know a Frank? Or like, where his apartment is- that sounds weird um…" he stammers. He realizes he doesn't even know Frank's last night, he knows almost nothing about him.

"Frank?" The shorter man asks, he shrugs and asks the other man who is squatting and looking underneath the kitchen sink, "You know a Frank?"

Gerard hears the guy under the sink repeat "Frank" a few times to himself, he finally says, "Unless you're talking about that one kid." 

"The kid? Yeah?" He doesn't understand why he said it that way but he just agrees with it. Surely Frank isn't a kid he is probably early 20's maybe mid, probably around his own age.

"Who told you about him?" the short man with the clipboard begins eyeing him like he's up to no good. Like something is wrong with him, the clipboard he was holding is now on the counter in front of him while the other guy continues looking at the sink.

"No one, he just comes to see me a lot. I don't know where he-" he's interrupted by them laughing, he still doesn't know his name but he doesn't think it matters. He feels like he's not in on whatever joke these guys and Frank are playing at.

"You're _seeing_ him? Listen either you're crazy or you're seeing ghosts," the guy keeps laughing as the other comes up from under the sink, he wipes his hands with a rag as he laughs along with the other man.

The laughter fades away as the clipboard guy writes up a slip for him stating the repair they made and what to do if it starts leaking again, they start laughing again as they leave. He knows they're probably making fun of him now but he doesn't know for what still.

Ghosts? This place is just filled with fucking crazy people isn't it? Maybe he's slowly turning into one.

~

There's a point where he starts accepting more and more of the possibility of ghosts. It takes him a while to swallow the idea though. How else could his belongings go missing and never come back? The nonstop groaning and creaking at night? The feeling like he's being watched? It begins to freak him the fuck out.

He asks Mikey if he believes in ghosts, he doesn't receive much of a response until he starts laughing and asking if he thinks he's being haunted by one. He doesn't bring it up again. Injecting Frank into the situation isn't even something he's put his mind towards. This joke he has with those guys just continues to prove to him how much of a troublemaker Frank is.

One night he's watching _Ghostbusters_ and painting, he's trying to wind down a little from being so worried about like, _actual_ ghosts. Ironically he thought it was be the perfect movie to do so with. There's a moment he's just starting to feel pretty okay again when he hears a small thud. Noises and things during the day used to not really be noticeable to him considering it's an apartment place an all.

Now it's pretty late and he knows it’s usually beyond quiet. It's always a little too quiet hence his trouble sleeping again. He ignores it for a while until he hears the thud again. He stays still until he decides to finally find where it came from, it almost sounded like something falling to him. He looks around for a while until he opens the little extra room, he hadn't been there for a while as he had moved most of the art supplies he actually uses to random spots in the living room.

He flicks the light switch and upon the boxes stacked in there, there's one he notices something familiar on. He realizes it's hit little vampire figure. He doesn't know how to react or what to do, he whispers a small "Thank you."

He picks it off the box and drops it, he curses himself until he realizes it landed on the hoodie he had lost. He can't remember how many months ago it was. He lifts it up to reveal all of the small missing items he has "lost."

"What the fuck," he whispers to himself as he touches each of the items. Here's that paintbrush, a lighter, a cigarette, a few of his pens. Oddly enough he doesn't feel scared but just a little ticked off. Now he realizes there is definitely something here.

"Okay okay, I hear you," he says again, he feels a little crazy talking to no one. But it's not really no one, it's a ghost who likes to steal from him.

He knew this place was filled with weird shit.

~

Looking at all of the missing stuff makes his stomach twist into knots, it kind of worries him. This is probably what the woman was talking about. What if this thing _is_ evil? He doesn't know if he wants to bring this to her after all. He decides to do some research on his own. For a while he searches on his laptop, googling various combinations of his apartment building with the word "murdered." There's not a bit of luck as he's searching for these things, there's no helpful information either.

On a whim he decides to add the word "disappeared." His stomach lurches as he scrolls through the results. This shakes a whole other part of his brain. He see's a "Frank Iero," listed as the main topic in the articles from various news sources around the town he lives in. At first he thinks it couldn't possibly be Frank. The one he knows anyway.

Clicking on one of the local newspaper's website links, his stomach feels like it's in one ginormous tangle of a million knots. The headline reads, "Local Man Goes Missing." Underneath it is a picture of Frank, clear as fucking day. His heart feels like it's going to bust out of his chest, its pounding so loudly it's the only thing he can hear now. He tries to breathe calmly and continue reading, there's a point he feels like he can't even read anymore.

From there he learns a bit about Frank. He learns that Frank was 24 when he disappeared a few years ago, he learns that he also lived in this apartment building. There are details about his last known whereabouts and when he possibly vanished along with a number to call if he was seen. That's the initial article. Soon he finds himself searching Frank.

His questions all get answered within the next hour or so he spends there, he wants to understand why he never heard about him. Maybe it's where they live, people go missing all the time. His mom always makes sure they're safe, he just doesn't understand why he has never heard about him.

He reads about Frank's mother, he learns that they were very close. The last things he was wearing when he disappeared were also described, his birthday, his age, his height, his weight, some of his tattoos. Frank was never found, his body, nothing. This makes Gerard feel fucking sick, he realizes Frank has worn those exact clothes every time he's seen him. They don't appear to be tattered or dirty, they looked perfectly fine.

Unless he's not dead? But that doesn't explain how he keeps getting into his apartment, he fully understands that he has locked it every single time. That he wasn't crazy and Frank did indeed make his way in there. He thinks to how he unlocked the door every time, it clicked. He feels like he's losing his mind. That he's responsible for all his shit going missing, things make more sense than Gerard would like for them to.

Something he finds himself grasping to understand is how solid Frank seems to be, it bothers him. Shouldn't ghosts be like flowy and transparent? Like Casper The Friendly ghost or something? They shouldn't be as solid as he is. He hasn't gotten super close to him but every time he touched him he felt like every other person. He wasn't freezing cold or burning hot.

His head hurts far too much and the world is spinning. He feels like he wants to pass out. The rest of the night he tries not to overthink. He wonders about Frank constantly now instead of occasionally, Is he watching him _now_? Is he hovering constantly? Does he choose to make himself visible? He falls asleep thinking those exact thoughts as he's laying in his bed. The noises not being so scary now that he knows Frank might be responsible for them.

~

Gerard wakes up suddenly when he hears the TV loudly blaring from the living room, the volume slowly fades down lowly. He gets up and slowly creeps down the hallway, he see's Frank sitting on the couch. He feels a bit more scared in a different way than he was before.

He hears the rain hitting the window next to them, the sky is very dark. He has no idea what time it is but he’s going to assume that it’s pretty late. Frank doesn't look at him, he knows he's there but he doesn't even let his eyes roam over to Gerard.

"Are you dead?" Gerard says is softly, he doesn't want to hurt or offend him. Saying it gives him a pang of pain in his heart, he tries to ignore it.

"I don't know," Frank says very softly as he continues to stare at the cartoons on the screen. The blue light reflects on his face, Gerard tries to find something in that but see's nothing strange about it.

"I read about you," Gerard gets closer to him on the couch. Nothing has changed about him yet again, he looks the same as that first time he broke in.

"I know," Frank looks at him with eyes filled with sadness. He looks miserable.

"You do watch me then," Gerard affirms, he knew it all along. Frank just nods and looks away from him, he feels a little guilty in some way he doesn't understand about messing with Gerard.

"They never found your body," he sits on the other side of the couch next to him and tries to get a better look at him.

"I know," he says again in the same tone, not adding anything else after it. He knows he probably doesn't want to talk about it. Hell, who the fuck _would?_

"So you're……" he waves a hand as he trails off. He doesn't want to say dead but there's a huge possibility that this kid is deceased. Maybe it'll hurt his feelings so he doesn't fully say the word.

"A mystery I guess," he shrugs and turns to face Gerard yet again. He takes a good long look at him, Frank doesn't have a weird ghostly glow, he doesn't look transparent. He looks just like every other person, there's nothing weird about him at first glance. Maybe he looks a little "fuzzy" kind of like a hologram but it's not extremely noticeable.

"Do you appear to other people too?"

"No, well...... Sometimes. I like to walk around like everyone else, just you mainly though," he plays with the remote, looking down at it nervously instead of a Gerard. He looks at Frank's tattooed fingers fidget with the buttons.

"Why me?" Gerard tries to look into his eyes to get his attention again but to also try to inspect him a little more closely.

"I think you’re cool," Frank looks up at him and smiles shyly, he quietly adds in, "I like you."

That feeling is back and it's kicking the shit out of Gerard's heart. He feels some sadness as he realizes that yeah, he likes Frank too.

"You've been stealing all my shit?" That seems to break the tension as Frank bursts out giggling. Gerard smiles back at him and feels a little bit better seeing how full of life he really is.

"I didn't think you'd really notice, or like… care," Frank waves a hand and continues to grin at the other man, "At least you found all of it!"

"Yeah sure, give me all my shit back as a gift," he rolls his eyes and glances at the TV. There a commercial about some weird kitchen product to make loads of ridiculously unhealthy food. As he watches it Frank turns the channel expectantly.

"You don't have to hide from me anymore you know," Gerard is trying to comfort him a bit. He doesn't want Frank to think he wants nothing to do with him. It's something new he needs to understand more of and besides that he quite likes Frank and he knows Frank likes him too now.

"Are you sure?" Frank looks at him with the sadness in his eyes again.

"Not like you want to bother anyone else anyway," he tries smiling at him a little, an encouraging smile to lighten it up a little bit. 

"I don't! Charlie, your neighbor, is boring. Let's see…… the others are fucking weirdos and that lady hates me," Frank shakes his head and starts flipping channels again.

"She's seen you?" He had his suspicions, he thinks about it now and feels kind of stupid he didn't take the hint when she almost spit on him and slammed her door in his face as soon as he even said Frank's name. He feels kind of stupid right now.

"She like- Well okay, caught me more like it. One time, it was only once," Frank goes on to explain how he showed up in her apartment one day. He didn't expect her to be the way she is but it's like she very clearly knew he was there whether or not he was visible. He explains how she has all of these little setups and there's salt and how most of that doesn't affect him somehow, he leaves her to it because it's what she believes. He just leaves her alone completely and has never been in her apartment since then.

"She thinks you're evil," he looks at him with a worried expression. He has a deep feeling now about him, he knows he's definitely not bad.

"I know but I'm not. Besides, if I were I'd _want_ to hurt people and shit. I don’t want that at all," Frank puts his hand on one of Gerard's shoulders. He takes the gesture and smiles at Frank, he wants to know if there's anything he can do to help him.

"I don't know if there is anything you could do, I don't know if I actually kicked the bucket. I remember I woke up here and that's it, no seeing myself die, no funeral. Just here," Frank shrugs and bites his lip.

"You ever think about where your body is?" He asks it cautiously, he doesn't want to make him uncomfortable but there's too many things that he needs to know first.

"I used to all the fucking time. I had to stop, it made me sad, I got really depressed."

"Do you think someone killed you?" He almost cringes as it's coming out of his mouth, he really didn't mean for it to come out like that. It came out before he really realizes what he was saying.

"No I don't, I just- I don't want to talk about it right now, is that okay?" he looks at Gerard again with a frown playing on his lips.

"Yeah, okay." Gerard gets a little closer to him and they watch TV together. Just enjoying the company, they both really needed it. Gerard knows they're really alike in that way.

There's a moment where he realizes Frank is leaning his head on his shoulder and it takes everything in his being to not freak the fuck out. He tries to stay calm. Eventually he falls asleep leaning onto him as well.

~

He wakes up to find Frank missing, his neck hurting like fuck from sleeping on the couch. He frowns, just as he thinks Frank dipped out, he hears shuffling in his kitchen. He gets off of the couch and turns around to face the kitchen, he see's Frank sitting on the counter holding a comic book.

"Do you sleep?" Gerard mumbles as he rubs his eyes and heads towards him.

"I don't know, I can if I want," Frank doesn't exactly understand what it is he can and can't do. He doesn't know how long he's been this way, he doesn't understand how he can enter a state of sleep. He doesn't know if he can eat, he knows since he tried it that once with Gerard that he can smoke. Otherwise, who knows? Beats him.

"I gotta get something to eat," Gerard mumbles with a sleep filled voice, he opens the fridge and is disappointed that he doesn't really have much.

"Shit," he curses as he decides to just got with a strictly coffee only breakfast.

"So like, can you go other places? Or just stay in this building?" he watches the coffee drip into the pot, he finds himself doing this every single time.

"I don't know, never tried," Frank shrugs as he flips a page.

"Do you want to?" Gerard's really curious how far Frank could go outside the building, since his body was never located he thinks maybe he can go about freely. He seems to be a little bit beyond _just_ a corporeal being. He learned that all ghosts are by choice, but Frank is surely something else. There wasn't anything else that gave him information, he knows they also need energy in order to fully appear. If Frank is taking his energy he doesn't really mind, it's okay. That sounds kind of sick now that he thinks of it. Then again, Frank may just be that powerful, who knows?

He stops his spiraling thoughts as he realizes Frank was saying something.

"Why? You wanna take me on a date?" He can hear the smirk in his voice, he's so happy he's not looking at him right now. He doesn't want Frank to see just how much he blushed in that moment.

"Just figured you'd want to get out," Gerard yawns as he says it.

"Yeah okay, we could try."

At around lunch time Gerard decides they would try, they walk through the building and go down the elevators easily. Frank had already told him he can get around the building just fine. Nobody seems to notice or care, there's nothing odd about them at all. No ghost boys here at all, thank you.

They reach the main floor and Frank starts to feel a bit nervous, he doesn't understand if he can do this. There's nobody around but he still feels like he can't do it.

"Come on, look," Gerard taps his foot on the sidewalk a few times.

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not scared of falling through the sidewalk asshole!" Frank stares down at it though, he never thought of that. If he's like jello and goes right down, just disappears.

"Here," Gerard puts his hand out for Frank to take, "I'm here," he offers him a reassuring smile.

Frank takes his hand and feels like a bunch of butterflies got injected into him, he can still feel things but fuck, _this_ is feeling. His hand is warm and soft, he really likes Gerard. He gets caught up in his thoughts about this before he realizes Gerard pulled him onto the sidewalk, yanking him from the ledge of the entrance they propped open with a brick.

"You did it!" Gerard pats him on the back a little too hard, he pushes Frank a little bit as he does so. They take a few more steps, Frank tests the ground every single time as Gerard had done before. They get quite far to Gerard's surprise, they reach a coffee shop he had only ever been to once.

"How do you feel?" Gerard looks at him with a little bit of concern in his eyes.

"Weird, really fucking weird," Frank says slowly. He's trying to process everything right now, he hasn't been outside in god knows how the fuck long. He hasn't smelled the air in an even longer time, he can't really feel the sun on his body but he gets the essence of it.

"Do you want to go in?" he motions his head towards the coffee shop.

Frank feels more than nervous about this, he doesn't think it's the best idea right now. He knows people can see him, but what if there's a chance someone _knows._ That scares him, he doesn't think he can handle that right now. Gerard is more than understanding of it, he walks besides Frank who is watching him closely as they go back to the apartment building.

He can't help it, he _really_ likes Gerard. He watches his dark hair, his pixie like features. He almost feels like he could pass out at the idea he helped Gerard dress, he chose stuff for him before they left his apartment today. How- if he's dead he doesn't understand how he can feel so fucking much.

Gerard puts a hand on one of Frank's arms as they're walking back and tries to focus on how he feels under his hand, he doesn't feel empty or hollow. It still isn't computing how he can be so solid. He likes the way he feels though, his skin feels like a normal persons should but maybe a little different. He's soft, he becomes aware he's kind of caressing him now and stops.

They reach the building again and go back up to his apartment. Gerard starts on a project he's been kind of pushing aside since he started learning more about Frank. He works as he normally does except Frank is there now. He watches him, he admires all the things he does and Gerard doesn't understand how he isn't bored.

They fall into a little bit of a rhythm after this, Gerard gets to working on his art stuff and Frank watches him, they listen to music together and talk. They watch movies and read, Gerard tries doing research on Frank in these times. This becomes a normal thing for them, Mikey stops by and doesn't think anything of it besides that this is Gerard's boyfriend. He doesn't know when he'll be able to unpack this to his younger brother but all he knows is he'll never hear the end of it.

In the beginning, the idea of Frank being this way mortified him but he guesses it really doesn't phase him at all now. Gerard's fondness for Frank definitely increases in the months to come, he finds Frank constantly trying to tangle himself with him. He's kind of grabby and touchy, he likes to hold hands, he lays his head in his lap anytime they're watching a movie. Frank even lays with him in his bed and it doesn't ever register as "weird" to Gerard. It all feels pretty natural to him, it feels like a good flow of things.

There's a night where Gerard notices something, Frank is laying next to him and he is starting to enter what he calls "sleep." He watches him for a bit and watches as he slowly fades away, his physical appearance is gone but he can still feel him laying next to him. He doesn't understand why but it makes him really sad, he has to try to avoid it though. He likes spending time with Frank, he's a really wonderful person but when it comes down to the situation, it hurts.

It hurts to think about how he has no idea what he is, where his body is, what his mom is going through, he hates it really. He wishes he would have met Frank before, maybe things wouldn't have been the way they are. He tries to fight these feelings, there's nothing he can really do about them.

One morning Frank takes Gerard completely by surprise, he is just waking up, he doesn't even get a few more blinks in before Frank's mouth is on him. At first he has no idea what to do, he's completely shocked by the fact he can feel Frank's lips and tongue and _taste_ him. He tastes clean and fresh, like water almost? It's a really fucking weird feeling but it's also really fucking good.

He kisses him back and pulls away, his heart beating loudly in his ears.

"So you can kiss, good to know," Gerard says, his cheeks flushed and pink. He hears Frank giggle and place a kiss on his cheek.

Frank starts doing this more often, he tackles him and kisses him. Gerard just complies, he likes kissing Frank. He likes touching him in general, it's really sweet. He thinks about how a few months ago he moved into this apartment with absolutely no expectations. Now he has a new friend who, he really actually loves a lot. He hasn't told Frank that yet but he thinks that he probably feels that way too.

They walk further and further down the street together, they even go into the coffee shop together. Frank tries his hardest not to interact with anyone, no one notices anything. There is a point where they feel secure enough to get in Gerard's car and drive somewhere. Beyond that he's a little too scared to try going anywhere Gerard wants to take him. Frank is always extremely paranoid someone is going to notice him, he didn't know too many people and they all pretty much went their own ways over time. That doesn't stop him from worrying.

~

"I miss my mom," Frank blurts out one day as he's sitting by Gerard's easel and staring out the window, he likes it when he sits there. He likes the look on Frank's face as he watches the sky and the cars and people down below.

"I'm sorry," Gerard looks up and frowns, he puts down his brush and palette. He reaches for Frank and holds his hand, without thinking he kisses it. To his surprise he giggles at that, Gerard looks at his smiling face and watches at it falls.

"What are we going to do?" he looks up at him with wide worried eyes. Sometimes Frank looks very tired, this is one of those times.

"About what?" Gerard holds his tattooed hand between his own.

"About everything," Frank's lip quivers, he doesn't know if he can cry but he sure looks like he's going to any second.

"What is there to do?" Gerard frowns and feels like he himself might cry. 

"I want you to talk to the lady," Frank says it almost like a secret, very quietly, Gerard could barely hear him.

"Who?" Gerard looks down at Frank as he sits in the chair, he turns his head to look outside again. The sky is astonishingly blue, there are a few small puffs of clouds in the sky but not very many. The sun is hung high still, it's a beautiful day.

"The uh… lady, at the end of the hall," he watches a certain cloud and how it is slowly moving towards another. He wants to see both of them collide and form a giant cloud.

Gerard doesn't understand what she could possible do about this, she couldn't possibly make Frank- whatever he is- That's it, that's just it. They don’t understand what he is. He's accepted that Frank is probably dead and that's okay. He can still see him and touch him and talk to him, what else could they do to change it somehow?

"Why? What is there for her to do?" Gerard turns to face the window and watch the sky with him. The cloud Frank was watching has collided with the other cloud, he finds himself smiling at it.

"Maybe she could understand," Frank sounds a bit more hopeful, he doesn't want to kill whatever hope is still there inside of him. Anything that could help him is what he wants to give. To be honest Gerard is terrified of her, she seems like a nice woman but as soon as she brought up Frank she wanted nothing to do with him. If he took another shot maybe she wouldn't judge him so quick, he hopes.

~

Gerard has to work up the nerve to even step foot near her apartment, it takes him nearly a week before he finally pushes himself out there in front of it. He hesitantly knocks on her door, he knocks feebly full of fear. The door opens after the second weak knock and she stands before him again. She's not smiling but she also doesn't look angry like before. She's an older woman, she's dressed in a flowy purple top with a matching skirt, she reminds him of his mom in a way. The smell of incense just oozing out of her apartment yet again.

"I told you, you need to protect yourself," she doesn't say it in the tone she used before, it's more calm.

"I know, I just- please let me explain," Gerard says almost pleadingly.

"I don't need this," she tries to slam her door but something stops it. He now knows Frank was not in his apartment waiting but right besides him waiting. They had talked about this, they decided that he'd wait because surely she'd know he was there.

The woman is taken back in horror, her face breaking into a fearful gasp. She stumbles a little farther in to her apartment, the door remaining open.

"Frank, I told you! I told you I would talk to her, why did you have to-" he realizes he's talking to the air right now. That's something that Frank has shown him before, he appears and reappears constantly just to try to fuck with him.

"I wanted to come and help! I knew she didn't like me but I didn't think it'd hurt to _try,"_ Frank makes himself apparent as they argue back and forth. They almost completely forget about the terrified woman until they hear her gasp again.

She's standing in the doorway watching them, "I _knew_. I knew you were around, I knew you were causing trouble. I _knew._ What do you want from me spirit? I don't want anymore of your trouble," she looks at them completely disgusted.

"Do you know what he is?" Gerard tries to approach the topic again gently. She looks at him and back to Frank, she takes a moment and breathes.

"Come in, I doubt your friend will be able to," she leads them into her apartment which is decorated with plants and shelves filled with candles and crystals. She has many different shelves of books, trinkets, and jars. The incense getting stronger and stronger as they go through her apartment.

She leads them to a table in her kitchen, she has a teapot and cups set up on it. One already filled with a tea bag and a spoon sticking out of it.

"Tea?" Gerard declines. She turns around and gasps again as she see's Frank has fully made his way into her apartment behind Gerard. She continues to watch him as she sits down, "You might not be too bad."

"Why do you say that?" She offers a chair to Gerard as he asks.

"My area is filled with places to trap negative energy and banish it. Spirits can come and go, bad ones don't immediately leave but they're very uncomfortable…" she steeps the bag in her cup slowly.

She continues as she removes it and begins stirring it, "He got through, he might be okay," she continues stirring and looks at Gerard, "What do you need from me?"

"Is he alive?" Gerard looks at Frank who is standing around looking lost, he looks confused.

"Yes and no. I don't understand him, truthfully he frightens me dear," She takes a sip from her cup, "I am Melinda by the way." She offers her hand to Gerard who takes it and introduces himself to her.

"Maybe someone didn't like him, trapped him. Maybe he's trapped somewhere else. I don't know dear," she glances at Frank who's taken it upon himself to look around at a shelf of her trinkets.

"How is that possible?" Gerard also looks at Frank as he asks this. He watches as he pokes at a small porcelain doll on the same shelf. He figured he really should be asking her questions and paying attention but he's not and instead he's staring at a bunch of random junk.

"You're friends with _him_ , should you really be asking me that?" a small smile appears on her lips, Gerard smiles to himself.

"I wish I could tell you want you want to know," she slowly shakes her head and mixes in a few sugar cubes in her cup, "Sometimes we are in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"You want me to make him whole again, is that it deary?" She looks at him with serious eyes, her eyes have slight eyeliner ringed around them. Her eyes are pitch black, once again, reminds him of his mom.

"I- I guess," Gerard stammers and glances at Frank who’s now moved away from poking thing to just watching the two talk.

"What about you, spirit? You want to be whole again?" she has a small smirk playing on her lips as he looks at Frank. He is beyond intimidated by her, he only nods his head in response. He doesn't feel anything particular in here, he only feels a bit frightened. He doesn't know what she's capable of doing.

"Do you see others?" she asks him curiously. Frank hadn't thought about the idea that there were others around him and surely he knows he's never seen any.

"Do you know of the lady below us?"

Gerard remembered when he was trying to search for anything on this building there had been at least two suicides. One was a woman on the floor below them, she sadly ended her life inside of the apartment. He hadn't remembered until now or even thought about if Frank saw others.

"No, I didn't know there were other people," he says timidly. She nods slowly in response and breathes deeply before saying, "If he'd dead he'd be in contact with others in the spirit world. It seems that's not it."

She rubs her temples and closes her eyes, for a moment they sit in silence as she does this. Finally she breaks the silence and says softly, "I don't do things for just anyone but for you dearies, I don't want you bothering me anymore. I'll tell you what, give me a week exactly and come back."

"What are you going to do?" Frank looks at her fearfully.

"It might put him back where he needs to be, you want this or not? I don't have time to waste on a split spirit and his friend. You got it?" her words are harsh at first but as they look at her face, she looks deeply concerned. Without another word they leave as she tells them to simply, get the fuck out.

They're silent for a long period of time, even as they're in the apartment and well away from that meeting. They don't say anything, they don't understand what this could do. She shut them down before anything could be asked.

Frank is sitting on the counter in the kitchen watching Gerard try to cook something, "I love you," he says amongst the sizzling and popping sounds coming from whatever he is burning in a pan. Gerard looks up from it and at him with wide eyes, he starts smiling that cute little crooked smile Frank has come so much.

"I love you too, Frank," He leans forward and kisses him, tasting the weird clean fresh taste that is Frank.

"Are you scared?" he looks into his eyes, there's not that deep sadness or pain, no confusion, just him.

"No not really. I don't know what will happen in a week. I just want you to know I love you," Frank smiles at him and pecks his lips quickly. Gerard tries to fight off the tears forming in his eyes, he doesn't know what's going to happen either. He thinks maybe keeping Frank this way is better than trying to take something from nothing, he starts to doubt everything.

"It'll be okay Gee," he gives him the small reassuring smile again, Gerard just nods and kisses him again.

They're watching _Return of The Living Dead_ on the couch, Gerard is in between sketching and eating his dinner. Frank is clinging to him and placing kisses on his neck, he keeps mumbling things to him all while.

"Calm down, Frankie," he says as he's concentrated on drawing a little version of Mikey. He decides to give him like lightning bolts around him, if he had a superpower what would it be? He needs to ask him next time they talk.

Frank starts to babble something and suck on his neck, Gerard doesn't catch anything besides "Beetlejuice."

Gerard giggles, "What about Beetlejuice?"

"It's like Beetlejuice you know? The ghosts? They're solid but they're dead so…" he trails off and starts sucking on the same spot again.

"I want to be dead too," Gerard says and goes back to doodling Mikey, he's just trying to get his glasses just right.

"Exactly," he puts his head on his shoulder and looks down at the sketchbook in his lap. Frank shoves it over to sit in his lap, Gerard makes a small surprised noise as he does so. Frank goes back to mouthing at him while trying to talk, "What about _Donnie Darko_?"

"Unless you got crushed by a jet engine, I don't think so," he puts his hands on his back and holds him close.

"The like, portals and shit?" he lays his head by his shoulder for a moment until he starts up again, he's really hyper right now, "Or like this one episode of _The Simpsons_? Homer's like a ghost and can go wherever he wants?"

Gerard doesn't fully remember that episode but he does remember that Homer ends up going to hell, "He goes to hell man."

Frank sighs, "Right."

"She said something about being split," he shrugs and feels the odd weight and temperature of Frank settle on his body. They sit in silence for a few minutes with nothing but the music from the movie playing. He watches the the group of kids on the screen run through the cemetery as it starts to rain.

"I really like Mikey," Gerard smiles at him saying that, he's glad he does.

"He really likes you too," he places a kiss on his forehead.

"Can he come over soon?" Frank sits up and looks at him curiously.

"I'll ask him tomorrow."

The rest of the night is peaceful, there's no worry or doubts. They spend their time together happily, Gerard's happy Frank decided to bother him and only him. He's happy he thought he was cool and wanted to steal his shit. He's really happy he met Frank.

~

The week goes by quicker than they want it to, they don’t talk about it though. Mikey comes over plenty more times and that really picks Frank up. He refrains from going out anywhere with Gerard in what he assumes is out of pure fear, he doesn't want to "ruin" anything. He doesn't understand what Frank means by that but he doesn't try to push him about it.

Frank slowly starts to go down though, his energy levels seem to decrease and he seems to be sad a bit of the time. Gerard offers to draw little cartoons of him and that almost always gets him started up again. He plays a lot of Frank's favorite albums, they've learned they basically like all of the same things. He even gets him into stuff he had never heard of before. He likes watching Frank admire one of the many drawings he gives him, he'll watch him hold it to his chest or run his fingers along the lines.

He absolutely adores him.

The day before Frank seems very disconnected, he's not paying attention to anything and not listening to anything he's saying. He's in a daze, Gerard tries to talk to him about it but he doesn't really say much. He says he's okay and just thinking too much, it worries him a lot. Frank isn't acting like himself, its like his mind is somewhere else.

Gerard does his best to talk to him, give him any space he needs. Frank quickly tells him he doesn't need any space and tackles him to the ground, he begins to kiss him furiously.

Frank stops and puts his head on his chest over Gerard's heart, "That's so cool," he says as he's listening to it thud and beat loudly in his ribcage. He feels Gerard taking it air and let it out, it's wonderful.

"Can I try yours?" Gerard looks at him curiously, he never tried to see if Frank at least had a heartbeat.

"I doubt there's anything there, Gee," he waves a hand and before he knows it Gerard has pushed him off. He gently places himself on Frank's chest, he feels a little scared. He lays his head down gently and tries to tune in, at first there's absolutely nothing. At first it's almost like when you place your ear to a seashell.

"See I told you-" He interrupts Frank, "Shh! Shut up! Wait!"

In the silence, he hears it. There's a very, very faint beating, it's not as loud as a normal persons heart would be but it's fucking _there._ He continues to listen closely, his arms pinning Frank down and keeping him completely still. It's almost like the beating becomes stronger as time goes on, he hears it thud and thump away. He feels a faint feeling of relief knowing that at least part of Frank is alive, he still doesn't understand how or why but he doesn’t care.

"You hear it? Or feel it?" He takes his head off of his chest and looks at him expectantly. He places a hand over where Frank's heart should be.

"You mean- there's something there?" Frank asks him in disbelief, he never knew his heart could still beat. Or that he even _had_ a fucking heart in the first place in this form.

"Fuck yeah there is," Gerard smiles a bit, the feeling of worry starts to wash over him again. If there's something to Frank that is alive then there's a possibility it can also be killed.

All of their questions will probably never have answers. He hears Melinda's words in his head again, _Sometimes we are in the wrong place in the wrong time._

What the fuck did Frank get himself into?

~

The next day Melinda refuses to answer any questions definitively, she gives maybes and nothing else. She isn't specific about what she's going to do but she warns them, "I need you to understand that this can result in two things. One, your friend could disappear. Two, he will come back just as you want, if that happens you need to leave. You need to leave immediately, no questions dearies. Just get out, got it?"

She's not looking at them as she adjusts certain things. The area in which her table was at in the kitchen has been completely cleared. Her apartment is dark and only lit by candles, it makes the little porcelain doll faces seem to come to life. There's a circle she has surrounded by candles. The circle has symbols inside and around them. There's a few candles that are not lit at all, they sit in positions near the middle of the circle and a few on the outside. There are two big mirrors set up parallel to each other, both set up across from each other on the giant circle.

Frank is staring at him filled with unease, the fear is starting to build up inside of him again. Melinda's words play back in his head once more, he knows he could disappear but hearing it confirmed makes him feel something beyond despair.

He squeezes his hand and whispers, "It's okay." He gives him a reassuring smile as he does so, Frank nods and tries to return the smile, it's a sad quivering smile but he knows he means well.

Gerard is instructed to be behind on the side of the circle outside of it and not in it, nor behind and near either of the mirrors. She gives him strict directions to not look into either one of them. Next she gives Frank directions to sit in the center of the circle and do nothing but stare into one of them.

"So we shall begin."

She asks him a few questions, Gerard isn't paying a lot of attention to what she's saying in that time. He's just focusing on Frank. He avoids looking into the mirror as all of this is going on, eventually he has to stop looking at Frank in general to avoid it. There's moments where time seems to stand still or move in slow motion. There's a moment she tells Frank to do something and he is hesitant to do it until she shouts at him to do it immediately. He doesn't understand what it is, he see's both mirrors shatter and suddenly…

Very suddenly, Frank is gone.

~

Gerard wakes up to the feeling of a cold rag on his forehead, he's laying on Melinda's couch now. She is sitting next to him in one of the chairs from the now missing table from the kitchen. He hears her say things quietly to herself as she lightly runs the rag along his face. For a moment he forgets how to speak.

"I told you the risks," her face is sad, she looks genuinely sad for them. She continues to run it along his face in hopes of soothing him.

"Did it go wrong or something?" he says in a dry voice, he clears his throat towards the end.

"I told you there were two possibilities, if it were to go wrong I would have told you a third dear," she says it quietly. He sits up and sees the remnants of whatever the fuck just happened, there's glass scattered in the circle and _only_ in the circle. There's not a mess anywhere else. He frowns as he looks at where Frank was sitting in the center. His heart starts to break in that moment, it still isn't fully registering to him that he is gone possibly forever.

"Is there anything I need to do now?" he looks at her worried exhausted face. She shakes her head and softly says, "Try to heal."

For a moment it makes him angry until he glances back at her face, there's something in her expression that makes it even realer to him. He offers to help her clean and help her with whatever she needs and she declines. She tells him that he needs to go rest and collect himself and that if he ever needs to visit or would like to, she'd be there for him. It touches his heart dearly.

His apartment feels lonely again, he realizes even before he knew of Frank he still felt some kind of presence. He feels a surge of pain wrapping itself around his heart, he stares out the window and starts to cry. He really tried not to so many times when he was in fear of this happening but now, he has no choice.

He cries until there's nothing left, he sobs. He feels like a piece of him was fucking ripped out, he feels like something is missing from inside of him. He finds himself crashing through his kitchen searching for the bottle of vodka he made sure to hide very well. He didn't think he'd ever really need to drink again, the rational part of himself knows he shouldn't be doing this again. He knows he shouldn't start this again, but the other part of himself that's twisted completely in pain can't stop it.

He's sitting on the floor trying to drunkenly draw Frank, "Where the fuck did you go?" He says quietly, sniffling, staring at the scribbles he's trying to form into his ghostly companions face. He stares at it for a while and rips it to shreds, he throws the book across the room and rests the back of his head against the couch. He stares at the front door in front of him, he expects any moment for Frank to come busting in. He knows it'll come, he's just gotta wait.

He passes out, that moment never comes.

~

Gerard cycles into this habit, he loses track of himself. A week becomes a month, from a month just continues to add on. He tries not to think about how long it's been. He tries so hard to forget, he doesn't want Mikey to worry again. He doesn't even want to talk to him, he doesn't want him to come over. He is in this sick vicious cycle he promised himself and everyone he'd never fall into again.

He has dreams about Frank, he sees his face in everything he sets his eyes on. He can't forget him, he feels like he's drowning now. The apartment now gives him this big gaping hole in his chest, he can't look at something without remembering something involving Frank. He can't even sleep without remembering how he'd lie with him. Even the fucking sky reminds him of him, he can't stand there and look outside without visualizing all the times Frank would sit and stare out.

He tries to work on his art and deadlines as much as possible, he barely meets any of them. If he's not working on those projects he's almost always drawing Frank, doing some kind of art with Frank. It kind of makes him sick but this isn't just some breakup, this is a complete disappearance. He wishes he knew what happens after you die, where you go? Where is he? Does he have to die to see him again?

Any time he finds his thoughts spiraling out and into death he has to stop himself, he often looks at the drawings he gave Frank. He holds them the way he used to and traces the lines, thinking about the expressions on his face. He misses him dearly and he doesn't know what the fuck to do anymore.

After a while of not answering Mikey's calls he finally comes over, at first he refuses to open the door. When his thumping on the door doesn't stop and only get's stronger he decides to open it. He opens it and instantly begins sobbing, he couldn't hold it together.

"What happened?" Mikey puts him on the couch, he looks at all of the drawings of Frank scattered around the room. Gerard doesn't even get to say anything before he's giving him a talk about being broken hearted and that it'll be okay. He loves his brother but he see's no point in actually explaining what happened, he just accepts what he's told. He knows he has good intentions anyway and means no harm.

He stays with him that night, it turns into a week, then a few. He stills tries not to drink so much but he fails miserably, he does it while Mikey is out. He's always been really good about hiding and pretending he's fine, he used to get loaded and go out and act like nothing.

Mikey staying with him gives him a true sense of home again, he feels safer then. He feels warmth and like maybe he really will be okay. It still hurts, it still consumes and destroys him constantly but Mikey is helping him just by being with him. He decides to let his brother stay for as long as he wants even though it's not really his choice.

He knows Mikey is going to stay however long he thinks Gerard needs it. There's a lot of talking, a lot of dodging questions, a lot of nights crying on his shoulder. Things feel like they'll only ever get worse, that it will be the same thing. He misses Frank, he misses watching things with him, he misses looking at him, he misses _everything_ to do with him. Part of the pain dulls down to a numbness, it hides behind it though. He knows if he pushes himself just a little that it will all break through again. He would rather feel numb, he can't handle that kind of pain anymore.

It reaches the 5 month mark eventually and he can't fucking believe it. It feels like a century. It feels like years since he was with Frank last. Mikey has started to stay less and less again, he's not doing the best but he thinks he's doing better compared to how he had been previously. He started getting back into improving himself, using the better coping mechanisms he learned after he first got clean.

He started being able to focus on working again, he started crying a little less. He started messing with the idea to accept that Frank is gone forever. It's still too much to accept but he understands that he needs to try to get around to finally accepting it. He doesn't feel in denial. Underneath the pain and misery he has hope that maybe Frank _could_ come back, it all contradicts. Part of him believes he is gone and another has the smallest bit of hope that he could somehow someway find himself back to this world.

He can only hope.

~

He opens his eyes and see's nothing but dirt in his face, it's almost like a desert. It takes him a moment to collect himself. He feels like he just fell from a fucking cliff. He lifts his head from the ground and doesn't really see much at first. He slowly tries to get up and realizes his shirt is snagged on something. As he tries to get up he hears a ripping noise, great.

He doesn't understand where he is or why, he doesn't remember anything. He wonders if this is how it started in the first place, maybe this is how he woke up the first time. He doesn't remember.

Frank decides to start walking, he doesn't really understand the direction he should be going in. He thinks this is the outskirts of town, he doesn't really know once again. There's a while as he's walking he realizes that he can feel the sun on his skin, the actual warmth of it. He doesn't really question it, maybe it's him just imagining it. He's always had a very active imagination.

There's plenty of cars passing him by but none of them stop for him, he assumes that maybe they just don't see him. It doesn't bother him so much until he starts feeling some weird feeling in his throat. He kind of plays it off as him imagining things again. He kicks trash along the road he's walking besides, he has never seen this part of town.

He doesn’t want to keep imagining anything, he doesn't want to jump to any conclusions about anything but he feels fucking weird. Something inside him is sitting differently than before. He can't quite put his finger on what it is though.

Frank doesn't know how long it goes on for, he just keeps kicking a crushed empty soda can along the road until he hits a small pavement, it leads up to a small gas station and he feels like he could cry. He tries getting to it as fast as he can, he needs help. He needs to talk to someone, get a ride, something, _anything_.

Reaching the gas station he feels instant relief. There's cold air blowing on him and he doesn't understand how he feels it so vividly but he really doesn't care. The clerk doesn't look at him from his magazine at first until he makes his way into his view. The guy looks at him with kind of a shocked expression, sort of fearful Frank thinks. He knows he probably looks like shit, maybe he knows he's looking at a ghost, maybe he's scared.

"Dude are you okay?" the clerk says nervously as he puts down his magazine to look at Frank through wide eyes.

"I'm fine thanks," Frank doesn't know what else to say, he doesn't want to freak this guy out by saying _'Oh yeah I just woke up in the middle of nowhere, thanks though.'_

"Are you sure? You're bleeding," He points at Frank's stomach and the rip in his shirt. Frank touches it and looks down, he is in fact, _bleeding_. He stares down at his fingers now lightly dipped in blood, he doesn't know how the fuck this is possible. How is he able to do that? What happened to him?

"Holy shit," he says almost too loudly. He glances back up at the clerk and smiles nervously, "I'm totally okay."

He tries his hardest to remember the last thing he did but nothing rings a bell, he knows he was with Gerard-

_Gerard._

He doesn't recall the last thing they did he remembers a few spots here and there. He remembers his face, he remembers kissing him and that was pretty much the end of it. What did they do? What time is it? How long ago was that? Is he in hell or something?

"You need some water or something? Just- just take a bottle, don't worry about it," Frank glances at the guy's name tag, his name is Bob. He's watching him very closely and Frank's sure he's about to bolt for his phone any second.

"Thank you," Frank looks at his bloody torso again, he couldn't feel a thing. It hadn't really scabbed up yet, he wonders if that's why no one stopped for him. He takes a moment and goes towards the fridges filled with drinks, he knows this Ray guy is watching him very closely. He probably looks like he was in some kind of trouble or he _is_ the trouble.

Frank opens the fridge and feels the cold handle underneath his hand, it feels so cooling and fresh. He reaches into the freezer and fucking _shivers_ , he can't believe he is actually feeling things again. He doesn't wait before he's opening the water and chugging it as fast as he can. This opens a whole other mess of sensations, he feels it going down his throat and cooling all the way down. He chugs it so fast the cold actually hurts, this isn't right. Smoking, he felt like it was real but now he knows it was just his mind because this, _this_ is real.

The guy is still watching him, he looks like he just saw an alien beam down from it's ship and down into his gas station. Frank tries not to take it too personal because he realizes he looks like he survived a run in with Leatherface.

"You need me to call anyone? You want to use my phone?" Bob offers politely. He realizes he doesn't know Gerard's phone number and it's probably not in the phone book and even if it was he knows they're almost completely obsolete now.

"No I think I'm okay, do you have any shirts or anything like that?" he knows how weird that sounds but usually gas stations will have ugly tourist-y cheap shirts and whatever sports teams around. He doesn't really give a fuck all he knows is he needs to take this tattered piece of shit off.

Bob points a little further down to a rack filled with nothing but boring shirts with stuff about sports and what the fuck ever. He doesn't fucking care. He looks at the price tag and remembers he has absolutely no money whatsoever. There's probably not a chance he even has his wallet, he has no idea where any of that shit went when he disappeared. He takes a chance and pats his pockets, "Son of a bitch," he says as he feels something in his front right pocket.

He looks at his wallet and it's just like he remembered it being, it's black and a little cracked. He takes a deep breathe as he opens it as see's his ID, he can't fucking believe it. There's his face, staring right back up at him. He opens the fold and see's a few bucks, $12 in total. He's sure his old pal Ray would help him out here.

"This, I need this. But I don't have enough, I'm really good for it-" he tries to explain before Bob cuts him off.

"No dude, just take it. You look like you've been through hell and back," Bob offers an awkward small smile. Frank can't offer a genuine on right now, he quickly strips off the shirt and as he's doing so Bob asks him, "Are you sure you don't need help? I have a first aid kit you know."

"I'm fine, really. You probably don't want to touch a bleeding stranger anyway," he rips the fabric on his old shirt and wraps part of it around his torso and on the wound. It stings a little bit as he puts pressure on it, it's almost too much for him to handle. He needs to get an understanding of pain and all sensations again. He puts the other shirt on quickly and notices the fabric wrapped around makes a weird little bump, he doesn't really care.

"Do I look better?" Bob's been staring at him the entire time just watching every move he makes, he probably thinks he's absolutely lost his fucking mind. Who just does this?

"Looking…..sharp," he says, totally frozen and not sure what to say at all. This has to be the weirdest thing that's ever happened to him in his life.

"Is there any way I could get a ride around here?" he asks curiously, he's trying not to act weird. A bleeding stranger asks for a ride? That sounds like a poorly written horror movie. But horror nonetheless.

"Taxi probably?" he says questionably, seeing as this guy didn't have enough for an ugly gas station shirt he highly doubts he'd have enough for a taxi.

Franks groans and nods, "How far are we from everything?"

"Not very, you could make it on foot okay," Bob sounds like he's trying to reassure him and he has to stop himself from laughing and saying he's just being nice.

"Alright I guess, thanks man," he waves as he moves out, Bob says nothing else as he leaves. He starts walking down the road now, leaving the little gas station behind him. He doesn't know how far out he is, he should've asked. He had no one to call because everyone he knows (or knew) thinks he's dead.

Frank walks for a while, finding a new can to kick in the meantime. He takes a shot at trying to hitch a ride, a few cars pass him by. He stops for a while and tries over and over again, there's a point where all he gets are obnoxious honks. He feels like he's going to pass out again but hey y'know at least he _feels_.

He wonders what Gerard is doing, he imagines him sitting and drawing something. Listening to Danzig or something and humming to it, he misses those times. He liked to watch sit at the window and watch Gerard paint. He liked the scent of coffee running through the air, the smell of smoke as Gerard smoked. Things were better then, he surely wasn't unhappy. He liked watching him run his hands through his hair, his dark hair stark against his milky white skin. He smiles to himself thinking about how it would get all funny and stick up in all directions.

Remembering the days after Gerard discovered what he was, he sniffles a bit. He wishes he knew how long it's been and where he was. What decided to spit him back into the world yet again? Gerard had mumbled and rambled on the idea about portals and alternate universes and it never made sense to him. He doesn't think he really believes it but it's a possibility. He even wondered about it himself.

Is there a point where the world just splits?

Truthfully Gerard cared more for it than he did. He wanted to know answers, he even wanted to talk to his mom. There was a way but still Frank would've felt uncomfortable with it. It hurts to think about his mom more than anything. He tries not to imagine her alone in her house, waiting for him, looking for him everywhere she goes. He sighs loudly, "She'll never see me again."

What is he supposed to do now? Does he show up at Gerard's apartment like nothing happened? He feels a pang of guilt thinking about it. He doesn't know what shape he could be in. He could be falling apart, he could be doing just fine. He's scared to find out truthfully.

Shit, he should've caught the time. Or the day.

~

Gerard wakes up feeling different, he slept in his bed last night after a while of sleeping on the couch. His body felt a hell of a lot better. His head wasn't pounding, he didn't have a hangover. He felt a lot better today. Things felt also felt too still. Too peaceful. Too fucking quiet.

He walks into the living room and see's everything exactly where it was, all of his art laying around. A long blank canvas on the coffee table next to a stack of loose sketches he ripped out from multiple sketchbooks. It wasn't the cleanest but it wasn't as bad as it had been in the past months.

Standing there he feels like he is blank. It's like he has completely forgotten what he was doing or what he usually does when he wakes up. He doesn't bother to check his phone, he knows it's probably 1 or 2 in the afternoon. It's better than waking up at 5 again.

He stands in the kitchen and stares at his coffee pot. He feels like there's something he needs to do but he doesn't remember. He feels like there's something he needs to think about. Is it Mikey? No, no he doesn't think so. They said they'd get together tomorrow and go to their mom's house. That's not what it is though. Is it Frank? It couldn't be anything to do with him, he's gone.

Gerard hasn’t been to see Melinda since whatever it is happened, happened. He hadn't seen her and she hadn't seen him. He isn't as intimidated or scared of her as he used to be. He thinks he should probably go to see her. He had stopped trying to look into ghosts and dimensions and whatever the fuck it was he believed was wrong with Frank. It didn't matter anymore. He just hopes that wherever Frank is, that he's happy.

Holding the bag of coffee he stares at it for a while, he feels like he's daydreaming. It feels like an hour goes by that he's staring down at the stupid Dunkin Donuts coffee bag. He starts scooping it into the coffee filter at the top of the pot, he's doing it too slow. His mind feels like its frozen. He's breathing slowly and calmly, he feels better than he was in a while though. It's like a dream state almost. Huh, weird.

There's a knock on the door, he doesn't answer it for a while. He doesn't feel the urge to at the moment. He feels gone. There's another knock on the door, then another. The handle on his front door is now twisting and jingling. He doesn't know who it could be but if they're being like this he doesn't know if he wants to let them.

Slowly he walks to the door and opens it, he's not prepared for what he sees. He didn't think he'd wake up on this day to Frank standing at his door, panting and bleeding. His cheek flushed with rich red color, his skin almost glowing, he sees a few small scrapes on his face. One across the bridge of his nose, it's still lightly bleeding.

It takes him a moment to understand what he's looking at, at first he thinks he's going to cry until it turns into laughter. The same maniacal laughter that occurred when he first came to understand that Frank was "dead."

"Gerard?" Frank puts a hand on his shoulder and as he feels his touch he starts laughing even harder. Tears start streaming down his face.

"You- you," Gerard is gasping as he keeps laughing, he clutches at his stomach as it starts to ache. He puts an arm on the door frame and leans against it, he can't pull his thoughts together. He has no idea if this is real. Did the drinking finally catch up to him? Did he just fucking lose it?

There's a difference now in Frank's touch, he feels hot to the touch. Almost scorching, he actually looks alive. Thinking about how Frank appeared before he looked alive _enough,_ now it's like he was fully pumped full of blood and revived.

"You were gone, you," he gasps, "Disappeared." Gerard manages to stop himself and tries to get his breathing back to normal.

"Am I dead too?"

"I don't know, please tell me what day it is. What is the time? I'm bleeding can you believe that? I drank water I-" Gerard interrupts him with a harsh kiss, he pulls him forward in his arms and deepens it. He lets his tongue roam in his mouth, lightly moving against Frank's. He doesn't taste the same, if he's being honest he tastes like death.

Frank breaks the kiss off to wrap his arms around him and hug him tightly, "I don't know where I was, Gee. I don't know why."

He buries his face in his hair, he smells like dirt and sweat. This isn't the time to tell him he stinks but he finds it amazing he actually has a scent to him now. He feels the heat coming off of him too, some of his hair is damp with sweat. Before, Frank wasn't really anything.

"I got- here look," Frank pushes off from him and pulls out his wallet and hands it to Gerard.

"Shit," he opens it and looks at Frank's drivers license. It hasn't even technically expired yet, he holds it up next to Frank and squints, "That's you alright."

"How long as it been?" he snatches it away and tucks it back into his pocket, he shoves Gerard aside and sits on the couch.

"Frankie…. it's been nearly 6 months," Gerard stares at him from the doorway, he still can't believe he's here again and sitting on his couch. That used to be all they had.

"Are you fucking serious?" Frank turns away and stares at the ground, he finds a page with his face drawn on it. Then another and another. He stares at them and touches them like he always does with Gerard's art. He looks across as the coffee table and see's a stack of pages, the top one already has his face scribbled across it so he imagines the rest are just the same.

"I'm sorry," he says quietly as he holds them in his hands. He feels guilty for getting involved with Gerard. He feels bad for wrapping him up in something like that, he wasn't a real person and he should've never made himself visible. He should've just continued to watch him sleep and steal his things, none of this would've happened.

"Don't apologize, you did nothing wrong," he steps away from the door and closes it. He stands by where Frank is sitting and puts his hand on his neck, there's a pulse.

"I did everything wrong," he says softly and pulls away from his touch.

"No you didn't, " Gerard places his hand back in the same spot.

"I hurt you," Frank takes his hand and pulls it away from his neck.

"You didn't do that, you didn't know."

"How were you? These months?" he turns to look at him, Gerard see's the same sad look he would always get in his eyes. This time he sees actual tears forming, Frank is fascinating.

"Let's not talk about that okay?" Gerard doesn't want to tell him the truth, he doesn't want it to be like with Mikey. He's not lying, he knows burying it down won't help him but he doesn't want to do this right now. He can't take Frank already feeling guilty for something he had no control over.

There's a comfortable silence that takes over the next few moments. Gerard takes the pages from his hand and sits next to him, he looks worn out and tired. There's rings around his eyes that are a dark color, the puffiness underneath them really showcasing his exhaustion.

"What's with the fucking shirt man? ' _I shop at_ -" Gerard begins reading and Frank shoves him a little bit, Gerard returns the notion in which Frank hisses in response to.

"Fuck! I was bleeding," He tries to lift the shirt above his head with the help from the other man.

"Lemme look," Gerard gently tries to peel away the shirt, he undoes it from the little knot he put it in. Frank continues to hiss as he accidentally pokes it several times in the process. The cut isn't too deep, it is quite big though, it stretches a little bit downwards from the upper right portion of his ribcage.

"That's _a lot_ of blood. Too much blood actually, how'd this happen?" he looks closely at it, the skin around it is red and irritated. He might want to draw this sometime.

"I don’t know I woke up and something cut me up, tore my shirt," he feels the gentle touches from Gerard's hands and has to stop himself from pushing into it. He can't get over how good it feels to fully touch and feel again, every slight touch sends sparks all throughout his body.

"You stink," Gerard blurts out of nowhere.

"Geez thanks, love you too. Sorry I was too busy being dead honey," Frank rolls his eyes and slightly moves away from Gerard.

"The 12th," Gerard says and watches as Frank glances back at him.

"The 12th?" Frank looks a little confused as he asks.

"It's the 12th of August and I don't know what time it is," Gerard's mouth turns into a thin line as he says it and watches Frank nod and licks his lips. His mouth feels bone dry. He feels like he has extreme cotton mouth, like he was a mummy that somehow came back to life and open it's mouth. He imagines dust flying out, putrid smells and dust.

"Can I have water or something?" he asks and continues imagining dust flying out from his mouth every time he talks.

Gerard's lips turn from a thin worried line into a small smile, "How did it feel?"

"When what?" Frank gets up and heads towards the kitchen, he opens the counters and searches for a cup. He knows Gerard only has his few favorite mugs and almost absolutely no dishes. He spots a mug with a little faded skull on it, it has a little smile on its face.

"When you drank water?" he follows Frank to the kitchen and stands next to him.

"It scared me," Frank quickly gulps down his cup of water, he instantly refills it under the sink.

"But it felt good right?" Gerard watches him gulp down the water, cup after cup. He would be worried if he didn't know this man was just thrown back to earth from wherever the fuck he was before. 

"Yeah, it did," he pants and almost slams the mug down on the counter, "You know what felt really good?"

Gerard leans forward, getting closer to him, almost swaying with Franks body, "What?"

"I could feel the sun again, the fucking sun! Do you understand how amazing that is?" He leans against his body, almost going completely limp. For a moment it goes just like that, they stand with each other swaying for a bit. Frank feels like he needs to shove any food in sigh in his mouth, he didn't understand that feeling at first until he thought about pizza. He realizes he is still dirty and covered in dry blood, he doesn't really realize how much he can experience now until he thinks about taking a shower.

When he thinks about this he nearly sprints away from Gerard and into his bathroom. He's only been in there a few times, he would sit on the toilet and talk to him while he was in the shower. He didn't really bother to try to jump in there, he figured it would be a waste.

"Frank?" Gerard calls after him as he follows him in. When he steps through the wide door he see's Frank quickly unbuttoning his dirty jeans. He has never seen Frank like this, it's a whole new experience he doesn't know how to deal with. He almost feels dizzy and breathless as he stands there completely naked.

"Take this off man," Frank is quickly trying to tug his shirt off, he finishes pulling it off himself while Frank eagerly pulls down his pajama bottoms. He hears him giggle and he instantly becomes defensive, he doesn't know why. He's really gotta not be like that.

"What?" he feels a little self conscious because of his reaction.

Frank looks up at him and smirks, "Nothing, you just have a nice dick is all," he hears the little shit giggle again.

"It's a cool dick," Frank says and continues to laugh to himself.

"It's funny how you come back to life and this is how you use it," Gerard rolls his eyes and moves away from him to turn on the water in the shower. He would dream about stuff like this, he had thought about it a lot really. He never wanted to overstep with Frank, they didn't really know how far they could go. He didn't really mind anyway.

He's testing out the water with his hand and waiting for it to warm up, he's learned that it takes a while to go from ice cold to scorching. He has to try to perfectly balance the shower knobs in order to get it to the perfect temperate. That's one thing he doesn't like but it's also something he can't change.

He glances around at Frank and see's him staring at himself in the medicine cabinet mirror. It's cute, he's poking at his face and looking at the small scrapes. Frank opens his mouth and pokes around his teeth, he watches him smell his own breathe and makes a grossed out face. He doesn't realize Gerard is watching him until he hears a huff of amusement, he smiles coyly. 

"I do stink," he scrunches up his nose, he opens the medicine cabinet and starts messing with everything in there. He accidentally drinks some mouthwash and throws around a bunch of different pain relief pills.

"It's okay, come here," Gerard watches him and tries to get him to the shower as he gets in himself.

Frank makes a very loud obscene noise as soon as he's underneath the stream of water. Gerard looks at him with wide eyes filled with concern until he see's Frank smile. He watches as he runs his hands through his wet hair and close his eyes under the stream.

"Feel good?" Gerard picks up a bottle of shampoo and squeezes some into his hand. He's gently at first in rubbing it into Frank's hair, he hears him make small encouraging noises and moves his hands a little firmer.

"You don't even fucking know," he groans. He never knew something so simple could be the most amazing thing. He didn't understand just how many things he took advantage of before. He starts to smell the strong scent of artificial strawberries, the same Gerard's hair often smelled of. He lets the stream wash it all out, feeling suds roll down his neck and shoulders.

Turning around he returns the favor, he takes the bottle from it's spot and puts almost too much in his hands. He slowly moves up towards the tangle of hair that is Gerard's, he quickly places a kiss on his cheek before he turns around to avoid getting any in his eyes. Frank has to get used to feeling things with his hands again. He feels almost clumsy with it, he can't believe he used to fucking play guitar.

"That's nice Frankie," Gerard says encouragingly as he messages his nest of hair. For a moment he stops and rests he head against his shoulder, he doesn't know what else to say. He has _too many_ feelings now, he almost wants to cry but he's not sure he's hydrated enough to do that without passing out.

"This is so cool," Frank says softly against his skin. He hears Gerard snort and smiles against him. He turns around and looks at Frank before stepping forward to wash away the soap in his hair.

Watching him wash his hair Frank puts his hands on his back, he runs them up and down slowly. The warmth almost making him feel tingly all over. He lightly pinches Gerard and runs his fingers over the red spot, he places a small kiss there. He trails a few small kisses all over his back and shoulders until Gerard turns around and takes his face into his hands.

He starts to kiss him deeply before he pulls back to stare at Frank's flushed face again.

"You're beautiful," he kisses his cheek and looks into the rich pools of his eyes, his pupils widening and narrowing. Maybe before Frank was "smudged", like a chalk board. He doesn’t remember every being able to see things like this in him. No light would shine or reflect on him, now his eyes are so vibrant and shiny it almost scares him.

Gerard reaches for the body wash and shower scrub, he lightly moves his soapy hand around Frank's body. Getting to the cut on his ribs he lightly moves around it, Frank hums happily at the sensation. He feels peaceful in these moments, that God or someone, who the fuck ever really decided to let him have this. Another chance in a way. He takes a moment to wash Gerard with the same care he was given, he finds himself giggling as he watches him. 

He lets his hands trail down his body again, Frank has more tattoos he hadn't seen before. Only smaller ones on his chest and sparrows on his hips. He rubs his hand over them lightly and thumbs at one of them, he hears Frank take in a shaky breath. He looks further at his cock, it is fully hard and standing out. He notices how pink nearly red the head of his dick is. He runs a hand further from his tattooed hip down to grasp it firmly.

Frank takes another deep shaky breath and watches Gerard's hand firmly hold onto him. He doesn't know what to expect from this but he knows he has thought about this so much.

"Is this okay?" Gerard looks at him with a soft expression, his licks his lips and stares at Frank, who nods quickly in agreeance. He allows his hands to roam slowly over his body, he stares at his smooth unmarked skin. Gerard's like a marble statue, a pure piece of art.

Slowly moving his hand along Frank's cock he receives yet another obscene moan from him. Frank almost thrusts his hips until Gerard pushes him back against the wall in the shower.

"Just wait, be patient," he says slowly and leans forward to capture his lips slowly. Frank melts into his touch and kisses back just as slowly. He feels how hot and wet his mouth is against him, his tongue lightly flicking away at his lips. He lightly moves his tongue against his in response, he sucks on his lower lip receiving and soft moan form Gerard in response.

He lets go, a small pop in response is heard. He then decides to lightly bite down on his lip, Gerard hums lowly. Gerard mimics his actions exactly and for Frank it's a little too much, as he's sucking down on his bottom lip and flicking his tongue over his lip ring he begins moving his hand on his cock. He starts off stroking him very slowly, he bites down harshly on Frank's lip and hears a small cry escape his throat.

Frank moves his hands to Gerard's hip and to his cock just parallel of his own, he wraps his hand around it and moves painfully slow. His dick is quite big, it fills heavy in his hand.

As he moves Gerard lets out a chain of small soft moans into his mouth. Frank moves down and begins sucking the crook between his neck and his shoulder. He takes a few small bites and moves around in different spots. The shorter man moves his head down to look at their hands wrapped around each others dicks.

They're both moving at aching slow paces still, he doesn't care though because this is easily something he knows he probably took for granted. He didn't really think too much about sex in his ghostly time, he didn't really know if that was possible. He knew of spirits that would try to fuck people and were always called evil, no way no how he'd be like that. Shit's not cool.

His minds snaps back in reality as he realizes Gerard isn't standing in front of him anymore. Instead he's on his knees in front of him and he almost cums instantly at the sight alone. He bites down on his own lip as Gerard stares up at him, his hair messy and slightly sticking to his forehead.Gerard places his hands on his tattooed hips and holds him into place again, he watches as Frank's cock twitches a bit at the notion. He slightly pinches his hips and hears a small whine escape from his lips, he looks up to see him slightly biting down on them to keep quiet.

Lightly, he licks at the head. He does this a few times until he's fully settled the tip into his mouth, he moves slowly around it, slightly hollowing his cheeks. Frank is panting above him just staring down at him, he glances up again and admires the sight. He guides Frank's hips until inch by inch, fully in his mouth he feels his hands move to his head and lightly grip his wet hair. He groans around his cock as he slightly pulls at his hair.

"Please, just…." Frank trails off and looks down at him flushed against his hips. Gerard lets go of his hips as he pulls back from his cock, a small pop is response as he releases him. He wraps a hand around him again and stroke his wet length, he licks his lips and watches as moves smoothly over him.

After teasing Frank for a while he decides to finally give him what he wants, he places the tip back in his mouth. His hand still holding him firmly, he takes him into his mouth and hollows his cheeks. Frank is making what sounds like small squeaking sounds above him, he's smirk if his mouth wasn't filled with his cock. He tries thrusting his hips forward into his mouth until Gerard places his other hand firmly on his hip again. He pinches him again and Frank groans loudly this time, not trying to stop himself from being too loud.

He yanks at Gerard's hair again, he moans loudly around his dick. He pulls off with another pop as he stares up at him. Frank is just drinking in and watching absolutely everything he's doing, just accepting it.

"You look so good," he says in a choked off moan as Gerard takes him fully in his mouth again midsentence. He pushes the hair sticking to his forehead back and watches him, his lips red and stretched around him. He finds himself whining again at the sight of Gerard's cheeks hollowing, he doesn't understand why that pushes him so much. The warmth enveloping him is like a new world to him, he feels lost in it. How wet and hot his mouth is, how beautiful he looks.

Catching him off guard Gerard begins moving his hand quickly around his length, his mouth following it closely. Frank feels like he's going to lose his mind, it's so much. The sensation of touch still barely coming to him, it's far too much for him to be able to handle any longer. Gerard hums with half of his length in his mouth and that tips him over the edge. He cums in his mouth, his hips trying to move and ride it out but Gerard's other hand is still pushing him down and scratching him.

It feels like a wave of static crashes over him, he feels caught in a daze again. All he can hear is his heart beating loudly with static quietly playing alongside it. The dim light in the bathroom is gentle on his eyes as he opens them again. He glances down at Gerard and see's him smirking at him, his cock still completely hard and hanging between his legs. He doesn’t know what he wants, he wants to blow him but he also _really_ wants to get fucked.

"Fuck me," Frank blurts out in the silence with nothing but the shower still running. Gerard raises his eyebrows and continues to stare up at him, "You sure about that?"

Frank rolls his eyes, "I died and came back to life I'm pretty sure I know what I want." He pushes Gerard's shoulder to get under the stream of water again.

"You need to stop using that as an excuse," he watches as Frank stands under the stream again, watching all of the suds rolls off of his body. He stares at Frank's ass and doesn't take a moment before he's completely agreeing with what he wants.

"Okay yeah," Gerard says as he stands up and lightly pushes him aside to wash the soap off of his own body.

"Lets get out of here first," Frank is already jumping out and scrambling for towels, he opens the small cabinets and finds nothing but extra soap and toilet paper.

"Eager are we now?" Frank doesn't respond, he only cheers for himself as he opens the cabinet under the sink to find a stack of towels. He throws one at Gerard as he steps out, he's dripping onto the small carpet outside of it, he watches the small drops create little puddles as he moves next to him.

He's not even waiting for him as he's already out the door and flying down the hallway to his bedroom. For a moment he stands there thinking about how strange the day has been. He didn't think anything would happen today, he'd drink too much coffee and do the same thing he always did. Maybe he'd call Mikey or his mom and talk to them for as long as they'll have him.

"You coming or what?" He hears Frank's voice coming from his room now, what a really strange day.

Frank is laying on his bed staring at the ceiling when he walks in, he still has the towel wrapped around his waist. His hair is probably soaking the bed but he doesn't really care, it's going to end up a mess anyway. This is definitely another moment he wants to remember so he can sketch it later, try his best to recreate it so if he ever does forget he'll have that to look back at.

"I love you," he see's Frank glance at him and smile, he makes grabby hands as he tells him he loves him too. The cut on his ribs is still red and angry, he isn't sure this is such a good idea now, he doesn't want to move him wrong or something and hurt him.

"I don't want to hurt you," Gerard frowns as he glances down at the wound. Frank rolls his eyes at him, "This is nothing! Now come here," he continues to make grabby hands as he gets closer to where he is on the bed. Gerard kind of looks like a shadow to him right now, there's no windows in the room and the light isn't on either. He likes how dark it is, it kind of adds to everything.

Gerard's knees hit the side of the bed, Frank rolls over onto his stomach and hooks his fingers under the towel wrapped around his waist. He lets out a small nervous giggle, it's been a while since he'd done this. Even before it had been quite a while for Frank. His fingers undo the towel and his cock springs free, Frank licks his lips as he stares at it with wide eyes. He glances back up at Gerard who is staring down at him with such a tender, sweet expression. He let's out another small nervous giggle as he looks back again, "Fuck…you're…" he trails off and starts breathing heavily.

He feels those butterflies he felt the day we stepped outside again for the first time, the same ones that were resurrected as he stood at Gerard's door staring at him. In a way he feels like he might be dreaming again, that he might be imagining all of this. That maybe he just imagined getting sucked off in the shower by an incredibly pretty man. Just maybe.

He places one of his hands around the other mans cock and feels as it slowly begins to fully harden again, it's such a delicious feeling. He feels a heat building in his stomach and he watches his own hand move along Gerard's length. He hears a soft sighing from above and smiles to himself, he moves a bit more forward to lightly flick his tongue at the tip. He lightly licks up the length, his tongue leaving wet trails along it. He moves and instead of moving slowly like he was planning to he decides to put his entire dick into his mouth, well as long as he can take. He meets it a little more than halfway before he needs to back off again.

His lips feeling stretched, his spit coating Gerard's hard cock. He furrows his brow and goes back down again and this time he tries to fully let his throat relax around him. He doesn't find doing it so easy as he needs to pull off again.

"Take it easy, Frankie," Gerard runs his hand through his hair and watches the other man start taking him into his mouth again. He looks like he's trying to deeply concentrate, like he needs to think deeply to suck dick of something. If this weren't happening Gerard would totally be laughing right now but he doesn't want to ruin this moment.

He lightly pulls on his hair just to test the waters and Frank almost completely caves, he moans around his dick. He keeps trying to take him deeper and deeper each time he goes down. Gerard just lets him take his time, he enjoys the sight. Maybe he'll secretly draw this too later sometime.

There's strings of spit attached from Frank's thin pink lips to his cock, he watches as he runs his tongue along the underside. Frank licks his palm and works his hand up and down his already sopping wet length, "I fucking love this," he says in a raw, rough, voice.

Gerard hums, hips lightly moving with the rhythm of his hand. Frank lets out an airy growl as he watches his face. He keeps licking his lips and furrowing his brows, his eyes close and he loves how his eyelashes flutter. He looks like he wants to eat Frank alive. He shivers thinking about it, he wonders if Gerard likes to be rough. He'll find out soon enough.

He pulls Frank up takes his towel off, he pushes him down onto his back and places his legs apart. Gerard trails his fingers around his torso, he runs up his ribs and lightly around his nipples. Frank pushes into the touch as he moves around, he moves to his neck and then to his chin. He moves them against his soft cherry red lips, he stares down at him wearing a small smirk and a dark look in his eyes.

"Suck," he says simply and in no time Frank takes them into his mouth. He does exactly as he did with Gerard's dick, he gets them wet and messy. He begins to enjoy it a little too much and he takes them out slowly, watching the spit drip down his chin.

"You're cute," he says quietly, Frank's instinct is to tell him to shut up and fuck him but he fights it and shivers again. He's never seen this look in his eye, it scares him a little. He's so used to scaring Gerard he didn't consider it could be the other way around.

He trails his wet fingers down he leaves a small trail down his dick which is quickly very hard again. He slowly moves around to his hole, Frank makes another small squeak and his grin gets wider. he gently places a digit against his hole and lightly prods. He moves slowly in and out of Frank, he watches his face as he doesn't seem to be in total discomfort. He moves a second finger in alongside it and works at the same slow pace, in and out. Frank loudly sighs and hums, he works at it for a while until he lightly curls his fingers inward, he lets out a soft moan.

Taking a few more moments to continue to properly prep him, he watches Frank's face. He looks relaxed and yet frustrated all at the same time, his dick slightly twitching against his belly. He removes his fingers and pumps himself a few times before placing himself against Frank's hole again. He starts inching his hips forward little bit little until he feels himself completely flush against Frank, who is whining quietly into his hand.

Taking his own hand he reaches up to Frank's and moves it away from his mouth, he places a small kiss on his lips in which he latches on to last minute and bites down on Gerard's lip.Frank moves his hands and begins scratching down along his sides lightly, not enough to draw any blood but leave raised red marks.

"Go faster…please…fuck me," he says quietly, Gerard looks into his giant desperate eyes. He starts moving his hips at a faster pace and watches as Frank starts throwing his head back and letting go of obscene moans.

"I thought about this so much," he pants lowly, he leans down to kiss Frank's neck. He begins to suck at small spots while drinking in all of the sounds the other man makes. He wraps his arms around him and begins to scratch down his back in a way that begins lightly and ends deeply and sharply.

"I did too," Frank gets out in between a groan, "Thought about choking on your dick all the time."

Gerard groans deeply with his face still buried in his neck, he stares at Frank and starts to attack his lips again. The kissing is much different than before, they're almost stuck in a fight for dominance. Frank keeps taking over and biting the shit out of him, he returns the action happily. He nips at his jaw lightly and receives even more deep scratches down his side. He didn't think this day would include this.

Getting up from being on Frank he takes his cock in his hand and the moment he starts pumping him in the same rhythm he's fucking him, his moans get even loader. He doesn't really care who hears, he's getting to fuck his boyfriend for the first time he doesn't give a fuck. Without any hesitation he starts thrusting harshly into him, he smiles as Frank starts whining again. They're such cute noises.

Frank is staring directly at him, his brows furrowed and his lips in the shape of a perfect "O." His eyes flutter closed as Gerard begins stroke him in the same rhythm he fucks into him. He's so deliciously tight, he's clenching down on him, fitting perfectly around him. He's sure he's had a wet dream exactly like this before.

The heat in his stomach begins to built up more and more with each thrust, he holds onto Frank tightly as he gasps, "Fuck, fuck, I'm going to cum."

He continues to stroke him quickly as he feels his orgasm begin to peak. There's nothing but the sound of their dirty moans and skin on skin. It feels like nothing else in the world exists besides the two of them, whole, connected, together. This is the moment Frank knows that he is truly alive.

~

The dream Frank has that night are unsettling. He doesn't remember what dreams are like at all so when he dream of being stuck on the outskirts again but this time it was endless, it disturbed him.

The dirt or sand or whatever the fuck it was stretched to as far as he can see. It seemed infinite as he continued to walk and walk until he couldn't anymore. It was like he was chasing something that would never come. The sky looks swirly and big, it reminded him of the portals in _Donnie Darko_. It was the same journey except there was no one around, no cars, no little gas station with a guy named Bob inside, just him and only him.

It went on for what seemed like forever, he was woken up by Gerard lightly shaking him awake. He began to be a little scared of going back to sleep again. He told this to him and he quickly agreed that he'd stay up with him if he wanted.

Now he's sitting near the window while Gerard watches TV and smokes, he watches the sky and expects it to open up and begin to swirl. The sun is beginning to rise and he feels like the previous day never ended. He's exhausted.

"Did you ever talk to her?" he continues staring out the window while he asks Gerard. He doesn't have to say her name in order for him to know exactly who he's talking about.

"No…" he says quietly and looks away from the TV and at Frank, "I was too worried."

Frank just nods and watches as some of the clouds begin to become more apparent now with the slowly rising light. He doesn't know if they should talk to her, she will probably flip her lid and drop dead as soon as she looks at him. God knows he doesn't want _her_ haunting him.

"We need to leave you know," Gerard gets up from where he's sitting and stands in front of Frank. He gave Frank some of his clothes to wear, he gave him a old faded misfits shirt that got too small for him and a pair of sweatpants that surprisingly fit him just right.

He places the cigarette between his lips and watches as he inhales. Frank removes it and places it between his tattooed fingers, he blows the smoke in Gerard's direction.

"Where? And why?" he looks up at the other man as he places it in-between his lips again. Now this is how smoking feels, this doesn't compare to all those times he thought he was doing it.

"Because she said we had to and besides like….. People know you here," he takes it back again and taps off the ash on the small yellow ashtray on the windowsill.

"I don't mind, we can find somewhere else," he continues and takes a drag, he looks down into Frank's big tired eyes. He doesn’t respond but nod again and turn his head to look at the sky again.

"You should eat," Gerard steps away and heads towards the kitchen, Frank groans as soon as he suggests it. _Again_. Gerard basically stuffed him full of food after he fucked his brains out a few times, he was starving but he really doesn’t think he can look at another plate of food ever again.

He agrees not to make him anything besides a cup of coffee, Frank is now sitting on the counter again. Gerard smiles remembering the first time he saw Frank do that, it's almost the same considering he hadn't slept that night either. He's lightly dangles his legs and sways them back and forth slightly, "What did you have planned for today?'

"Well Mikey- oh fuck. Mikey," he rubs his eyes and tries to think about how in the fuck he's going to explain this to him. He doesn't even know where to begin, he doesn't even know where to start.

Frank laughs, "Hell of a story right?"

"Too much of a fucking story," he picks up the pack of smokes he left on the counter when they first woke up. He lights another one and places it in his mouth while he runs his hands through his hair.

"Does this mean I can get tattoos again? That's fucking sick," he smiles as he looks down at his arms. The small black flag bars accompanied by a few other speckles could use a lot more friends.

"Guess so," he talks around the cigarette.

The rest of the time they watch the sunrise together, they eventually pass out on the couch in each others arms, uncomfortable, but still in each others arms. Frank doesn't have another dream like previously, he actually has one about his mother which kind of breaks his heart. It's from when he was a kid, it was the beginning of winter and she had taken him to a park. It hadn't snowed yet but there was frost all around on the grass, he remembers her telling him about all the winter activities she did as a child. He remembers clinging to her and holding her tightly, he's glad he still remembers a lot of the moments he shared with her.

~

There's a banging on the door that wakes both of them up. Without thinking Gerard opens the door and doesn't even open his eyes before he lets Mikey in. He hears him mumble something about Frank and he suddenly realizes he believed he had dumped him or something the entire time that left him in total shambles.

He rubs his eyes before looking at Mikey, he has a few bags filled with what he assumes are groceries yet again because he assumes he needs to take care of his older brother still.

"Um..Frank-" he doesn't know what to say before Mikey is at the couch and poking at the still sleeping Frank. He swats at the hand that’s poking his face, he tells it to fuck off a few times before he realizes it's Mikey. He's saying a bunch of words he's too tired to string together.

Frank slowly sits up and opens his eyes, Mikey is staring straight at him so closely to his face, he begins poking at him again.

"So when were you gonna tell me this guy used to be dead?"

END

~


End file.
